Final Rise
by Toldakye
Summary: In the midst of the battlefield of Namek, Freeza is put to death by Vegeta, not Goku.
1. Chapter 1 - Vegeta's Redemption

**So**

 **This is a fanfiction that I deleted a few months ago for some reason, I don't know. I've decided to reupload all the chapters, because I plan on writing more of this story.**

. His power was unbelievable, the sheer weight of his energy made even Vegeta sweat.

"So you are the ones who took my wish of immortality." Frieza said, keeping calm. "I can't believe 2 shrimps, a half-saiyan, and a prince of a dead race managed to defeat the Ginyu-force. That doesn't matter." Frieza began to look more angry. Vegeta was shocked, and Krillin was nearly paralyzed with fear.

"Now it's your turn." Frieza exclaimed with anger as the four shivered below. "Don't worry. It won't hurt too much."

The four, still shocked, wouldn't move a muscle as Frieza looked around and checked his scouter.

"So it is true… somehow you wimps have managed to destroy the most powerful fighting force in the universe. I wish I was there." Frieza exclaimed with growing annoyance. He paused for a moment. "How about we get started? I know you three are itching for a good fight." Frieza floated down from the small cliff and began stepping toward the warriors.

"You ruined everything. Why did you have to stick your nose in my affairs? I could have been immortal!" Frieza screamed angrily whilst staring down his opponent, Vegeta. Vegeta's expression became dark.

"I'm glad I'm not under your reign! I am a renegade, unchained! The most powerful remnant of a warrior race!" Vegeta yelled in the face of the tyrant. Their powers both began to rise as they prepared for the fight.

"Well then, Vegeta, live boldly, even if it is just for a few more minutes!" Frieza triumphantly yelled, followed by a laugh. "Okay, time's up. Are you going to fight me or sit there and bluff?" Frieza crossed his arms and screamed. It was followed by his body lighting up in blue waves of ki enveloping across him. A small crater grew beneath him, enlarging by the second.

Vegeta was not phased. His large zenkai boost, or power increase, he achieved from Recoome, boosted his power up to nearly Frieza's. A close number to that power would be around 400,000. The small waves of ki lapping around Frieza turned into a large flame wrapping around him like a present in a box. This present, however, was pure evil.

Gohan, Krillin, and Dende looked in fear at what was unfolding in front of their eyes. They had never felt such power before, and their faces showed that. Eyes widened, jaws dropped, lips trembled in fear of the chaos.

"Ah man, we're talking serious power here!" Krillin stated, stuttering each word. Gohan heard this and looked back at Krillin.

"Serious power is an understatement…" Gohan replied to Krillin, teeth nearly chattering. Plateaus in the distance lifted up and out of the ground. Chunks of land spit up from the ground below, hovering into the sky. The imbalance of ki from Frieza's power up was reshaping the land, throwing cliffsides into the ocean and even moving mountains.

Way off in the distance, Piccolo had felt that significant rise in ki and was flying at top speed towards the fight. However, on the way, he felt a weak power nearby. He headed in the direction of the power, and in moments, he stumbled upon an almost dead Namek lying on the ground.

"Hm… the scars in the land must mean there was a battle here. Whoever's laying there must have lost." Piccolo thought out of curiosity. He flew down and inspected the Namek. It was Nail, lying in pain after a lost battle against Frieza.

"Looks like me… could be worse, I guess." Piccolo said out loud. "Looks like he's seen better days." Nail opened one eye and looked towards Piccolo.

"Yeah, you bet." Nail stated. "Hey… you look like the one the earthlings wished back. Looks like you made it here in one piece." Piccolo looked down at the nearly dead warrior.

"You know me. Well, if you know about the earthlings then you should know that I am nearly out of time." Piccolo replied. He turned around and was about to leave until he was interrupted.

"Wait a sec… I know a way I can send you great power." Nail said. "Only if you were whole again. Too bad it won't happen…" Piccolo looked slightly confused.

"I... shall get going." He said. He started to turn around to leave.

"You could unite with me. It is the best we've got." Nail said towards Piccolo. Soon enough, they both agreed, and Piccolo and Nail fused. Once they united, Piccolo could not believe the great power increase. He could easily defeat Frieza the way he is now. Unless Frieza would be defeated by a much weaker Saiyan warrior before Piccolo arrived…

Back at the fight, Frieza was nearly finished powering up… his ki now astronomical.

"Not bad. Too bad I'll have to wipe that dumb smirk off your face." Vegeta stated with a smile. His smile quickly turned into a frown, teeth showing, eyes lighting up in concentration. He began to yell, and much like Frieza, ki started enveloping his body until it flared up. His power was rising immensely, thousands by the second, until, finally, he stopped.

Away in Frieza's broken spaceship, Goku was trapped in the healing tank, only to feel the humongous power of Frieza and only be able to watch the battle. He wished he could fight alongside his son and his friends, but he would have to wait until he was fully healed. At the scene of the battle, Frieza sped towards Vegeta lined up with a punch. He lashed out the punch only to have Vegeta grab it in midair.

Vegeta threw away the punch, and to Frieza's surprise, lashed out with a powerful punch that Frieza could not block. It slammed him in the side of the head, knocking him back and stunning him for a few seconds. Vegeta took this precious time to jump back and begin to charge up a Galick Gun. Before Frieza could react, He heard these chilling words.

"GALICK GUN!" As Vegeta screamed these two words, Frieza almost knew these would be the last he would hear. That thought was at the back of his mind, taunting him as the beam came closer and closer. Finally, he realized. The beam enveloped Frieza, too much power for him to withstand in this form.

"CURSE YOU ALL!" Frieza screamed as he was eviscerated into nothing. The beam left a cratered path in the ground, and soon enough did it collide with the plateau just behind where Frieza stood mere moments ago. A blinding light found its way into the eyes of the ones who remained, and a deafening explosion followed. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a crater… and no Frieza.

"Ha ha ha! That runt didn't stand a chance from the beginning." Vegeta exclaimed with pride filling his head. Quickly, this pride was turned into anger.

"Too bad you shrimps took my chance of immortality! I almost forgot about that. Now I'll have to kill you three for betraying me!" Krillin and Gohan slowly backed up, the terrified expressions on their faces now escalated. Vegeta suddenly disappeared from their sights. He appeared behind Krillin, and before Krillin could react, Vegeta slammed his fist into Krillin's back, causing him to be launched away.

Gohan turned his head to look at what just ensued, and he suddenly saw Vegeta flying towards him. A quick headbutt from Vegeta was enough to send Gohan flying into a nearby plateau. Krillin stood up slowly. He saw Gohan, lying in pain, forehead bleeding. His face turned from worry to pure anger as he beamed straight for Vegeta a top speed only to have Vegeta quickly turn around and throw up a fist to block the attack Krillin was sending.

Vegeta grabbed Krillin's fist, still extended from the punch Vegeta had just blocked, and threw Krillin into the ground before raising up his foot and crushing it down on Krillin with insane speed. Dende ran and hid himself behind a rock nearby. Vegeta had an ever growing smile plastered onto his face.

Gohan opened his eyes and got up off of the ground. He saw Vegeta repeatedly stamping on Krillin who had now created a crater from his impact. Gohan kept staring in disbelief.

Many miles away, Piccolo was still racing towards the battle. He felt Frieza's ki now gone, but he felt that Krillin's was dwindling.

"This isn't good…" He thought as he continued the flight at top speed. At the spaceship not so far away, Goku was extremely tempted to break out of his healing tank and rush towards the fight. He could see Krillin and Gohan being tortured by Vegeta. His anger rose, along with his power, but he knew that he couldn't fight. The healing tank was not near finished. He had to hope that they could handle it, and that Piccolo could arrive on time to save them before he had to.

"C'mon, Gohan, you can do this… you can beat Vegeta." He thought. He so sincerely wanted Gohan and Krillin to be safe, now that Frieza was finished.

At the scene of the battle, Gohan continued to watch his friend's ki dwindle as Vegeta tortured him. He could not stand it anymore to just watch. His power rose as an angered expression took over his face. Vegeta sensed Gohan's ever climbing power and looked to his left to see what was ensuing. His permanent smile turned into a nervous frown as he lifted his foot off of Krillin and used it to balance himself on the shaking ground. Krillin was too much in pain to move even the slightest, and couldn't get out of the way.

"STOP HURTING KRILLIN!" Gohan shouted with pure anger in his voice. Vegeta was startled that a mere child had risen his power this much, but before he could say anything, Gohan launched a powerful kick that sent Vegeta flying. Vegeta hit the ground at least twenty feet from where Gohan had made his kick, and got up, nose now broken.

"Impossible… this brat's power has risen astronomically… well above Frieza!" Vegeta thought in misbelief. "His power was a fraction of my own minutes ago. How could a child have become so strong so quickly?" Gohan then flew at Vegeta and landed a barrage of kicks and punches that he could not block, as they were nearly too fast for Vegeta to see. A powerful punch in the side of the head sent Vegeta flying once more, this time into a nearby plateau.

It almost seemed that Gohan was winning the fight, until Vegeta hatched a plan. Gohan was only a child, he had little experience with fighting.

"If I use an afterimage on that runt… he won't be able to tell that I did. I can get behind him and gain the upper hand, he won't see it coming!" Vegeta thought as he began to feel prideful again as he would be able to win this fight, no matter what tricks they pull.

Vegeta pulled a smile as Gohan launched towards him for another barrage of kicks and punches. In the healing tank not far away, Goku could sense what Vegeta was planning.

"Don't do it Gohan… you have the power to beat him, don't fall for his trap!" Goku thought. Sadly, Gohan would not hear it and would continue his rage induced fight. Vegeta got into a fighting stance as Gohan flew towards him. Once Gohan was close enough to see the pupils in his eyes, Vegeta used the afterimage technique, and Gohan could not understand what happened. Gohan threw a punch into Vegeta's fading body, and realized that he was not there.

"Wh… what?" Gohan said aloud as he looked around. Suddenly, a quick punch from behind sent Gohan unconscious and he fell to the ground. Vegeta, with a smirk, said "Heh. Didn't see it coming. Poor kid."

Vegeta began a chuckle, then it evolved into a full on laugh. He kept this way until a yellow disc of pure energy sliced at his side, cutting through his armor and some of his flesh. Vegeta's laugh turned into a frown as he yelled out in pain.

"The bald brat, I forgot about the bald brat!" He thought, almost saying it out loud as he turned around to see Krillin, one hand pointed at him as of the recent Kienzon.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now!" Vegeta exclaimed towards Krillin as his face lit up in anger. Krillin backed away slowly, now sensing the insane gap between their powers. Vegeta flew up to Krillin, grabbed his head, and sent a knee flying into his stomach. Blood spurted out of his mouth as he held his stomach, in silent agony. Vegeta put another foot on Krillin's head and smashed him into the ground. Dirt flew up into the air at the sheer force of the impact.

Vegeta slowly began to crush Krillin's head until he felt a nearby power. He looked behind himself, the direction at which he felt the power.

"An… extraordinary power… it feels like the Namek from earth. But he's nearly a thousand times stronger!" Vegeta said, face filling up with worry. He took his foot off of the pain ridden Krillin and kicked his side. He was sent flying onto his back, nearly unconscious. Suddenly, Piccolo was in sight. He saw Vegeta and the others below.

"What happened here?..." He asked to no one in particular. Scouting the area, he saw Gohan lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Gohan!" He said through clenched teeth. "Vegeta will pay." He floated down to the battlefield where the two earth warriors laid in pain. Vegeta was no more than fifteen feet in front of Piccolo, and the look on his face told Piccolo that he knew the gap in their powers was too much. Piccolo was nearly three times stronger than Vegeta, and they both knew that.

"P… Piccolo…" Vegeta said, stuttering wildly. He put his hands slightly up, fingers stretched, as he stared at the Namek warrior in front of him.

"Vegeta… you're the one who hurt Krillin and Gohan, aren't you?" Piccolo asked with growing annoyance and anger. Vegeta couldn't say anything. He was too shocked with fear to move his lips anymore. Piccolo's face swelled up with annoyance.

"No matter what has happened, I will kill you." Piccolo said when he heard no reply. He raced towards Vegeta and delivered a fateful blow to his head. Vegeta was knocked back and stumbled on his own feet. Piccolo sped behind him and flew a quick kick to Vegeta's back, enough to nearly break his spine. While Vegeta was dazed and broken, Piccolo put his fists together and raised his arms high. He smashed both fists on Vegeta's head, which sent the shattered Vegeta towards the ground.

"Sorry, Vegeta." Piccolo exclaimed as he charged up a ki blast. After a few moments, he threw it down at Vegeta. The overwhelming power of Piccolo's blast obliterated Vegeta entirely. When the smoke cleared and Piccolo looked down, there was nothing left. He sensed no power besides Krillin and Gohan's fading ones.

Quickly he flew over to Krillin. He kneeled down and picked him up with one arm. He did the same with Gohan. Dende peeked out of the top of the rock he was hiding behind.

"Nail?" He asked nervously. He was visibly shaking. Piccolo turned to the left and noticed Dende.

"Hm?" He replied, slightly confused, as the little Namek didn't seem to have any readable ki.

"Is Gohan okay?" Dende asked Piccolo, as he saw the limp Gohan in Piccolo's arms. "I hid behind the rock and lowered my power… Is Vegeta… gone?"

"Yes, Vegeta is dead. Gohan and Krillin are unconscious." Piccolo said. He paused for a second. "Can you fly?" He asked after the pause.

"Yes." Dende replied. After this, he slowly hovered off of the ground and zipped around some. Piccolo could now sense a small power emanating from the Namek.

"Well then. Let us go find Goku." Piccolo said as he began to fly away in the direction of Frieza's ship. Moments later, the battered ship came into view. Piccolo and Dende flew through the massive shattered hole in one of the windows. They looked around the ship until they found the healing pods, and, evidently, Goku. Once Goku could sense their powers in the room, he opened his eyes and was greeted to the sight of Piccolo and Dende along with Gohan and Krillin, still unconscious.

"Ah, there's our hero." Piccolo said to Dende as soon as they found Goku still in the pod. Piccolo cracked a smile, unusual, but not impossible for the Namek. After they found Goku they decided to take him out of the healing pod, as Dende's healing powers could easily heal Goku. First things first, they healed Gohan and Krillin and got them back to full strength. Piccolo then carried Goku over to Dende. Dende laid his hands on Goku and recovered him and his strength. Goku sat up and said,

"Hey guys! Thanks!" Gohan was extremely happy. He ran over to Goku and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Dad!" He exclaimed joyfully. Piccolo was still smiling, along with Dende. Krillin joined in and hugged them both. Frieza was finally defeated, and the evil was now gone.

They decided to wait for a few hours to think of a plan. They had to revive all of the dead Namekians and find a way to bring back their friends in Other World. In contact with King Kai the entire time, they decided to use Earth's Dragon Balls to revive everyone killed by Frieza and his henchmen. Guru would be revived, as Frieza had a small part in his would use the last wish to revive everyone killed by the Saiyans, or Vegeta and Nappa.

Once they completely established the plan, they executed it. It worked. Soon enough, all the Namekians were revived, and the halos on Yamcha's, Tien's, and Chaozu's heads faded away. Goku and co. decided it would be a good time to return to Earth in Frieza's spaceship. They fiddled with the controls for a while until they were able to figure out how to pilot the ship. In no time at all, they were zooming through the cosmos, off of Namek for good.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Return

**This chapter is old and kind of sucks, watch out.**

Frieza's ship was nearly broken, it was almost impossible to fly. However, the gang managed to maneuver it back towards Earth. The time in which they would make it to Earth would be a guess at most...

"Wow, Piccolo... you really got that strong by fusing?" Goku asked, slightly amazed, but still knowing that his power was leagues above Piccolo's.

"I was impressed myself. Such a power up I never thought possible, especially for me." Piccolo replied. They were sitting in one of the only rooms with beds, passing the time until Earth would come into view. King Kai told all of Goku's friends still on planet Earth who were unknowing that Goku and the others would arrive home safely.

Krillin and Gohan were in another room, practically asleep while Dende found a bed that almost suited him in the third room. Their battle with Vegeta would be one they would never forget, along with all of the events on Namek. What would scar Gohan the most, for many years to come, would be the arrival of the Ginyu Force, a battle he nearly died to. Recoome's kick dealt a lot of damage to Gohan, breaking his neck in the process.

"Krillin?" Gohan looked over at Krillin while saying this. Krillin looked back.

"Do you think Vegeta will come back?" Gohan asked nervously.

"Are you kidding? Vegeta is dead! Piccolo was way too strong for him." Krillin replied, reassuring Gohan, as he had been acting slightly strange throughout the flight and Krillin suspected it was because of Vegeta.

"I hope that's true..." Gohan said, looking straight up once more, hands behind his head like he was relaxing.

"Don't worry, Gohan." Krillin reassured Gohan once more. They laid back in peace again, like they were doing before their chat.

"Hey guys!" Goku rushed into the room. "I see Earth! Piccolo's already up in the bridge!" Goku said excitedly.

"Really?" Gohan asked as he rushed out of the room. Krillin followed in close pursuit. It was a short sprint to the bridge from their rooms, and once they made it up there, they saw a small blue pearl floating in the middle of a dark sky. Piccolo and Dende were already staring out, appreciating the vivid tones of the beautiful planet as the ship drifted closer and closer.

Goku had a seat by them, choosing one of the many chairs that a crew would sit on. Gohan flopped beside him, and Krillin lacklusterly chose the chair next to Gohan. They stared out of the massive glass window at the beautiful globe for nearly an hour until it almost covered their entire view.

"There is our Earth!" Goku exclaimed with a rising voice. "We're almost here, be patient guys!" Gohan was nearly bouncing out of his seat. After the ship took off back at Namek, they had almost forgotten about Bulma until Krillin jogged their memory (The author had almost forgotten about Bulma as well!). They had picked her up on the way off of Namek. She was currently sleeping like a baby on a mess of blankets and pillows she brought on the trip in the furthest room from the others. Gohan's hassle had awoken her, and now she stood at the door to the bridge.

"What's happening? You woke me u-" Bulma said, not paying attention to her surroundings before the saw the blue and green Earth filling up the glass window. Her face lightened up with pure joy.

"Is that really Earth?" She asked, almost bouncing out of her blanket she was covering herself with for warmth.

"Mhm. Sure is." Gohan replied, now calmed down from his overexcitement earlier. Bulma joined the others, sitting next to Krillin and stared out of the window.

"We should probably start trying to land this thing…" Piccolo suggested as he got up from his seat and waltzed towards the ship controls. He was the one who got the ship off of the ground, so he thought to himself that he could land it. Once they powered through the Earth's atmosphere, they tried to find a suitable place for landing. A plateau nearby looked good enough.

The landscape they were flying over was a barren wasteland, a desert, void of all life. Surely they wouldn't shock any onlookers in this landscape. Piccolo brought the ship down, but the landing was a bit clunky. The ship jolted about slightly until it settled on the mesa. Once they were firmly situated on the rock, Piccolo opened the exit doors and led the others outside.

"Man, it feels good to be back on Earth again." Goku said, looking at the beautiful clouds in the distance and the blue sky above. Bulma came out last, and she was extremely happy to be off of that desolate planet. Goku looked around for a significant power. He was able to sense Master Roshi quite a ways away. Even further away, he could sense Chi Chi's power level, but they wouldn't make it there in good time.

They decided to head towards Kame House, where Goku felt Master Roshi's ki. Bulma grabbed hold of Gohan and they all headed off to Kame House. It was about a minute until they arrived, they saw the red roof that stood out like the sun in the sky, not to mention the hot pink wood lining the home. They flew down to the shore of the island, and Master Roshi happened to be just outside.

"Eh? Goku! Krillin!" He said once he spotted them landing. "Bulma, Gohan… even Piccolo! You made it back safe?" Roshi stood up from his chair and eyed them all down.

"You bet! The ride home was a little bumpy, but we're here now!" Goku replied with a smile. His gi was ripped to shreds from the many fights on Namek.

"Goku, your gi… it's all torn up! You must have had a tough time on Namek." Master Roshi said surprised.

"Sure… but we're here now." Goku said back to Roshi.

"And… who's that?" Roshi pointed at Dende who was currently half hiding behind Piccolo.

"Oh, that's Dende. A little Namekian who helped us on Namek." Goku replied, as Dende shifted out from behind Piccolo. They would spend about an hour more at Kame House until they went to see the others. They decided to go see Goku's family first. They said their goodbyes to Master Roshi and headed off over the sea. It was nearly a straight shot to the north from Kame House, and not a long flight at all. In nearly a minute they were over the mainland, and nearly a minute later they saw Goku's home in the distance.

It almost seemed like Chi Chi knew they were coming. She ran out of the door, almost dragging Ox King outside. She stared in awe at the specks of people coming towards them.

"Look… it's… Goku and Gohan! They're back!" Chi Chi said with satisfaction filling her face. Goku and the others landed down near the home. Goku and Gohan ran towards Chi Chi and quickly they hugged her both.

"I'm so glad your back!" Chi Chi stated with relief. She was so happy they were finally home. She had worried about them for days and nights on end while they were on Namek, not wanting to lose either of them to any of the villains. Like with Master Roshi, they all stayed and chatted for a while until they decided to find the others who had been resurrected. However, it seemed as if they didn't need to, as Tien, Yamcha, and Chaozu were already on their way.

"Dad! I sense Tien and the others!" Gohan said with excitement. Goku looks towards the direction where he could feel their powers, and saw them in the distance. Tien was waving already, even though he could have been a mile away. They were all eager to see Goku once more. Soon enough the trio landed by the house.

"Well, hello guys!" Goku cracked another smile as he spoke, he hadn't seen the others in over a month.

"Look who it is, our Saiyan hero." Tien said happily, walking towards Goku. "We're all glad we can see you again. Chaozu could barely wait the entire flight." After he said this, Chaozu came running up to Goku. He was smiling as well, and greeted the hero. Yamcha followed.

"We all got much stronger while training with King Kai, but Goku, you're still way on top!" Yamcha said as he shook hands with Goku. They chattered and talked for hours more, about the fights and adventures they all had while they were separated. Yamcha joked about how Piccolo would just sit and "meditate" almost all the time while they were training with King Kai. Piccolo just groaned and gave him a sucker punch.

"Wait… what about Vegeta?" Tien asked. He had a significant grudge against him, as all the others had. Piccolo spoke up.

"He may have become stronger, but he was no match for me once I fused with Nail. He's long dead." Piccolo replied. Tien laughed moderately.

"Heh, so the 'Prince of all Saiyans' is gone. He talked of himself so highly… bastard." Tien said through the chuckles. He emphasized the last word, however, trying to prove how terrible Vegeta was.

"I'm so glad he's gone. I'll never forget that Saibaman. Cheapshot." Yamcha said slightly angrily. They were silent for a while, besides Bulma and Chi Chi chatting in the background.

Soon enough the others went off. Goku and Gohan stayed, as this was their home along with Chi Chi and Ox King. Suddenly, Chi Chi's face lit up with frustration as she remembered something.

"Gohan?" She asked. Gohan's eyes opened wide.

"W… what?" Gohan Replied. He started to sweat, as he began to remember as well.

"You DIDN'T FINISH YOUR HOMEWORK!" Chi Chi yelled as Gohan ran at the speed of sound into the house.

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry…" Gohan repeatedly yelled as he ran to finish his homework. And 'twas a normal day, back on earth.


	3. Chapter 3 - His Father

_Nearly One Year Later_

It was another ordinary day for the Z fighters of the Earth. They could mostly relax in peace, but on every off day Goku would be off somewhere training. He trained because of his primal Saiyan instinct to become stronger. He wanted to become the legend, see if it was, in fact, true. He wanted to become the Super Saiyan.

He would work himself to near death some days, never stopping. Other days he would exhaust all of his energy, and sometimes only a senzu bean would be able to restore his power.

One day, while he was about to start a brief training session, Goku felt an insane power headed towards them. It was quite far away, but despite that, it was astronomical. On all sides of the Earth, the Z Fighters began to feel this power lurking in the depths of space, nearing their helpless planet. A power so large it dwarfed Frieza, making him look like a dead tree in front of a tornado.

They could only associate that ki with that one person: Frieza. Every one of the Z Fighters met in the area where the ki felt the strongest, some taking longer to arrive than others. Soon enough, they were all there. At this point, the ki was of insane magnitude. Not even Goku could match it…

"What.. what is that enormous power?" Yamcha asked once all of the fighters were there. He stuttered almost each word.

"It… it couldn't be Frieza, Piccolo obliterated him! There was nothing left!" Goku replied, as clueless as ever. They all stood in shocked awe, staring up at the empty sky as if something were to happen. The ki got closer and closer by the minute. They were left to fear until King Kai butted in.

"It couldn't be Frieza, uh uh. But it seems to be one of Frieza's relatives!" He said to the Z Fighters, sweating from the forehead. They all gasped.

"This relative of Frieza's must be insanely strong… none of us could match that power…" Tien stated as he continued to look up. Goku, however, had a risky plan, a plan that would work… or it would fail terribly. He stared at Piccolo before saying,

"Piccolo. Your power multiplied by nearly ten times when you fused with Nail… what if you became whole again, fused with Kami? Imagine that power boost." Piccolo's face turned to misbelief. He stared at Goku, slightly angered, slightly nervous, slightly shocked.

"Uniting with Kami? I wouldn't do that in a million years!" Piccolo replied to Goku's suggestion. Even though Piccolo denied it, he knew it was the only way. He wouldn't follow up, he just couldn't.

"Piccolo, you have to! This isn't a game, it's the fate of our entire planet!" Goku demanded. Piccolo thought about it hard, but with no reply, flew off slowly to Kami's Lookout. He was gone quickly, out of sight. Goku stared in misbelief, but understood that Piccolo knew it was the only way. He knew that Piccolo was smart enough, but in the back of his mind Piccolo just wouldn't agree.

"He'll think that over. Anyway, we should wait and see how quickly that power is coming to Earth." Goku ordered. Everyone nodded their heads and found a place to sit down. Goku waltzed towards Gohan and sat down next to him. Gohan looked extremely worried, not even batting an eye towards Goku, as he didn't seem to notice him sit down.

"Don't worry Gohan. We'll get out of this somehow. Like we always do…" Goku reassured Gohan. They both began sweating from the stress, nervousness, and because they had stopped in the middle of a desert. Whoever was coming to Earth would land somewhere around here. They had to wait.

Minutes went by as the power grew closer and closer. And as every minute went by, the hope drained slowly out of the Z Fighters.

 _ **Somewhere on Planet Namek…**_

A hand rises up from the ground. Another pushes into the ground, and the arm pushes the unknowing person up. They stand up and take on the scenery, scanning the surroundings.

"Ugh… I now remember what happened. Damn you, Piccolo…" Vegeta walked forward. Angrily, he stomped the ground, recalling the battle he had horribly lost. Then, however, he realizes that he still is on Planet Namek, and that he is, infact, alive. Vegeta may not realize now, but the wish the Z Fighters made caused Vegeta to be revived once more. Frieza had a small part in his death.

"Heh. So I am alive. I guess that blasted Namek decided to spare me." Vegeta said to himself as he rocketed off into the air. He scouted around for a way off of the planet, until he remembered the Ginyu Force pods, still on the planet. He slightly recalled where they had landed, and headed off in the general direction.

Soon enough he scouted out the pods, down by a small plateau. They were slightly buried in the ground, but enough to squeeze into. Once he found himself inside a pod, he looked at the set destination. Yardrat.

"Hm. The Ginyus must have been assigned a mission there before Frieza called them here. Better than nothing." Vegeta thought to himself as he pressed the button he remembered that launched the pod. Instantly, the pod flew up into the air and began its course for planet Yardrat.

It was quite a few hours, and Vegeta had almost fallen asleep. Luckily, he had his eyes open enough to see a green-tinted planet not so far in the distance. From its look, it seemed to house a very intelligent species, and they seemed to be flourishing about the planet. Vegeta would use this as his first training session…

In a few minute's time he had landed on the planet. By landed, I would say thrown into three skyscrapers before being smashed into the streets of whatever metropolis he had arrived at. Some Yardratians who were around at the time ran over to inspect what had happened. Once they were nearby, the small door to the pod popped open.

This startled the Yardratians, and they backed up. Vegeta crawled out of the pod door and inspected the landscape. It was a planet full of life, a crowded city with skyscrapers and even hovering craft. Vegeta was not focused on their technology, however, he was focused on getting stronger. He would train until he became the legendary Super Saiyan himself.

"Ugh. Vile creatures." Vegeta stated as he looked around with a disgusted face. The Yardratians moved in a bit closer. Vegeta inspected their faces more. They were purple, some with many yellow spots covering their heads in a polka-pattern. Their eyes were low, quite close to their mouths, and they wore incredibly ugly clothing that only made Vegeta even more disgusted at their horrific appearance.

Vegeta stuck his hand out forward. He then extended his fingers and turned his palm towards the group of inhabitants. A small ball of ki appeared in his hand, enlarging slowly.

"Disgusting things. Have some of this, will ya'?" Vegeta stated as the ball of blue ki escaped from his hand and found its way towards the bodies of the Yardratians. A large explosion followed, along with the collapse of many more skyscrapers. Vegeta was completely unphased. Not only was his attack weak, but he achieved an insane zenkai boost from his fight with Piccolo and the others. Like with Recoome, Vegeta's power skyrocketed. He could now be put near a 1,000,000, nearly on Piccolo's level.

Vegeta flew up from the ground slightly, and again raised his arm outwards. This time, he created a fist, then turned it so his palm faced upward. He then raised both his index finger and middle finger. With a small upward movement of the hand, the entire area went up in a bright white light. What followed were screams of pure terror, and even further after that, the entire city was now a crater.

"Weaklings. This planet will be too easy to wipe out." Vegeta exclaimed after the entire city's population was eradicated. "Maybe I should have some fun with them." Vegeta traveled to the nearest collection of power. Although each city housed millions of inhabitants, their powers were all quite meager. In the hustle and bustle of the city, thousands of people were living out their daily lives.

Vegeta hovered down in the middle of a crowded street, and because of the commotion, no one noticed him. Soon enough, the hovercrafts sped towards him and stopped in their tracks. Vegeta only smiled. At the speed of light, he landed a fist into the engine of one of the vehicles. He moved onto the next, then the next, until the street was filled with smoke and fire. He then stopped in the way of a pedestrian, trying to run from the chaos. With a smile still plastered on his face, he sent a fist flying straight through the Yardratian's head.

A spray of light purple blood coated the torn glove of Vegeta's clothing. At insane speed, he broke necks, crushed skulls and ribs, impaled, and straight up murdered much of the fateful populace running down the street. Getting bored of playing with weak "opponents", Vegeta decided he should take this up to a different level. He flew up above the city, and began firing a barrage of ki blasts at different areas of the metropolis. Soon enough, the city lit up in blue energy, evaporating anything that was in its way. Vegeta sure had the upper hand, and soon, Yardrat would be no more.

Vegeta would not dare blow up the planet, as his ship as well as the ground he stood on would be completely destroyed. He would only die in the vacuum of space, so he decided to wipe out the entire planet's population firstly. It was an easy task, destroying city after city, wiping out life after life. Vegeta laughed the entire time, having being filled with Saiyan blood and the urge to fight and kill. He would not stop until the planet was a barren wasteland. In only a few hours, Vegeta had destroyed all of the planet's cities, not a single Yardratian was left alive after Vegeta's onslaught.

He then realized just how battered his clothes were, taking a fight from Frieza, Krillin and Gohan, and finally, Piccolo. He had no choice, he would have to choose one of the Yardratian's clothings.

He searched around the dead bodies of the population, trying to find a pair of clothes that would suit him.

"Damn it, why didn't I think of this firstly?" Vegeta asked himself in frustration as he kept on searching. Finally, he found an abandoned piece of apparel lying on the ground. It was in pretty good condition, with only a couple rips or tears anywhere. It was slightly dirty, but Vegeta could live through that. He threw off his old saiyan armor and slipped on the clothes with slight regret, but accepted it.

After meeting his needs, food, water, et cetera, he began to find a spot to begin training. However, the gravity was ludicrous here, only a fraction of the gravity of his home planet. He decided to live with it for now. Under the dark skies of the dead planet, Vegeta pushed himself, and with his new found power, began to train himself.

 _ **Back at the Open Skies of Earth…**_

It was quite apparent that a tough match would be needed to defeat this new evil threat. A strong warrior was required, and Piccolo could fit that spectrum if he chose to unite with his other half, Kami. However, he would not agree to this so easily. He would turn it down many times as he flew to Kami's Lookout, but a thought at the back of his head told him that it must be done. He continued the flight, contemplating the facts the entire way there.

At the scene of what would soon be a fight, the Z Fighters sat, not speaking to one another, waiting for what could very well be their demise. After nearly a half an hour of long faces and nervousness between all of them, Tien spoke up.

"Listen everyone, we cannot stay like this. We've gotta appreciate the facts! We've gotta make a plan whether or not Piccolo will comply to the fusion." He said orderly as he looked around. Chaozu stood up as well.

"I agree to that. C'mon, everyone!" He said as he also looked around. Goku and the others were still sitting. Krillin was mostly alone, and Yamcha was on a nearby rock. Close by to Yamcha were Goku and Gohan.

"You know what?" Goku asked, his face fitting a serious tone. "Tien is right. We can't stay here and sulk in the insane power. Come on, Gohan! You agree, dont'cha?" Gohan thought it over for a few seconds before standing up. He put on a smile.

"Yup." He replied. He looked over at Yamcha and Krillin. Yamcha stood up first, also putting on a smile, and Krillin followed. He looked at Goku and nodded. Goku nodded back.

"I agree. We haven't lost to anything that's come in our way yet, and we certainly won't lose this one!" Krillin said as a way of uniting the others and as a way of reassurance. Everyone cheered as they moved in closer to begin to come up with a plan. But as the power grew closer, nothing could stop the rush of fear zipping through them.

 _ **In Space, at the Source of the Mysterious Power…**_

A hand fell onto the armrest of a massive chair. Many eyes were staring at the dot in the distance, the planet of their arrival. Many henchmen were working around the clock struggling to set up a landing sequence. Sitting in the massive chair was an extremely powerful cosmic king, a man who could only be known as King Cold.

"There's our planet. And there is my revenge for the death of my son… Frieza. You really had to fall to the hands of a Saiyan."


	4. Chapter 4 - The Ultimate Decision

Atop the Lookout, Earth's guardian, Kami, stood, watching over the world. He, too, could sense the insane power moving towards them, and was extremely worried about Earth's safety. Soon enough, he sensed Piccolo moving towards him. He was quite nearby, but moving in slowly.

Piccolo was still contemplating the choice in his head, deciding whether or not he should, infact, unite with Kami. He began to see the Lookout in view, only a few miles ahead. With this, he sped towards it at full speed and was there in a matter of seconds. His feet made a loud sound as they collided with the stone tiles below. He still was wearing his turban and weighted cape. It blew and rippled in the wind as he stood.

Kami turned his head to look at the caped warrior standing before him. He almost knew what Piccolo would have to say, and he sighed a sigh of almost sadness, but mostly frustration.

"Piccolo. I believe I know what you are here for." Kami exclaimed towards the Namekian. Piccolo only stared back, with an angry face, as if he was disagreeing with everything that happened to be unfolding at the moment. He stood with his arms crossed for almost a minute with Kami staring at him, until he unfolded them. He began to slowly walk towards Kami as to speak to him, head down, sweat nervously pouring down his temples.

"It is a hard decision. But Goku believes that we must unite once more to be able to eliminate this threat. I believe he is right, but I am not sure." Piccolo explained to Kami, although Kami had already known the problem, as the recent massive power heading towards Earth and the requirement of a fusion with Nail one year ago told him so. Kami looked up at Piccolo.

"It is the correct thing to do. How do you feel about it, Piccolo? I am worried." He asked as his faced turned to slightly caring. Piccolo looked confused and angry at the same time, thinking the words over and over again in his mind. The power drew closer and closer by the second, they had not much time to think. However, Piccolo merely turned around and sat down with his legs crossed.

"I need time to contemplate this." He said as he closed his eyes. Kami turned around as well, their backs facing one another.

"Piccolo, you must come up with an answer soon, whether it be a yes or a no. The power is drawing closer by the minute, by my estimate it'll be here in less than an hour." Kami stated, practically ordering Piccolo to give an answer, to open his mouth. Piccolo just stayed there, eyes closed, still thinking about the facts, still trying to say whether or not he could physically and mentally carry this burden. It would be tough.

At the desert, the scene of the upcoming fight if there would be one, the Z-Fighters all sat in a circle on the sandy ground of the dry desert. They were all formulating a plan, as like Piccolo was contemplating his answer thousands of miles away. The arrival of the infamous King Cold was only minutes away, and the Z-Fighters would have to agree fast of death would become of them.

"If we can all lower our power levels and get close, we might be able to take whoever this is by surprise, and kill him." Yamcha threw out. However, Tien put up a contradiction to the possibly perfect plan. It was a simple, yet not easy to think of con.

"His power is insane, there's no way he will be suppressed enough once he arrives for us to jump him." Tien stated, with a worried look on his face. He knew the power was coming, and the sheer depth of it was incredible to say the least.

"Hopefully Piccolo will fuse with Kami." Gohan said, with nervousness as well. Goku suddenly sprouted an idea.

"Yamcha, that really could work. That idea isn't that bad." He said with an oddly pensive face. Yamcha looked confused.

"But how? Tien already put it down, it would never work!" He said with a worried face. He was wondering what Goku was thinking, how they could fix that plan. Krillin looked at Goku with a smile, as he thought he knew what Goku was thinking.

"I believe I know what Goku's plan is…" He said as he looked at the others. "We would carry out the normal plan, sneak up on the enemy, then Goku would use his Kaioken technique! This enemy may be a relative of Frieza's, but Goku has gotten much stronger over the past year. He can't be beat!" Goku looked over, surprised that Krillin had it correct.

"Exactly!" Goku said, almost excited. He had always been itching to fight Frieza, and a relative would do the job. The power was itching closer, getting more and more powerful as they spoke. It was much less than an hour away from Earth, and it was speeding up.

At Kami's Lookout, Piccolo was still deciding whether or not they should unite.

"Piccolo… you know it is the only way. This fiend is too powerful, none of you could beat him. Not even… Goku." Kami said as he turned slightly to the right to see Piccolo begin to stand up.

"I think I have an answer." Piccolo stated. He had thought this over for quite some time, but now it seemed like there was no other way. "We shall unite." Kami looked at Piccolo with a slight smile. He understood much more than Piccolo did about this threat, and he also knew it was the only way.

"Very well. Just know, Piccolo, that once we unite, you will carry the burden of this world. You will know all of what I know, all of my fears…" Kami warned. Piccolo didn't seem any bit worried.

"Yes, I understand. However, we must not waste time, the insane power is minutes away from here!" Piccolo said, slightly angered, leaning in towards Kami.

"There's… there's the ship!" Krillin stated nervously as he looked up into the sky. It was round and detailed, with many landing gear that were beginning to protrude from the side. It was built almost exactly like Frieza's ship, quite large and grand. It landed on the other side of a small hill, covered in the landscape.

"Well then… let us initiate the plan." Tien said as he began to run towards the ship. "Remember, guys, lower your power levels and do not fly!" Goku followed, next Gohan, then Yamcha, and finally Krillin and Chaozu who were far in the back. It was not a minute before they were able to clear the hill. They looked down at the landed ship. A hatch had opened from the bottom, and they had arrived there just in time to see a multitude of soldiers pile out of the doorway, followed by the insane power: King Cold.

"That… that looks like it could be Frieza's father!" Krillin said with obvious fear in his voice as he looked down. "Goku, you'd better be careful!" Goku stood up with a serious face. Faster than almost anyone could see, he zipped down into the fray. Without warning nor hesitation, he disabled many of the soldiers standing around the area. Cold was surprised, and looked around to see the unnoticable blur zoom across, up a mountain and back down again, as to turn himself around. Goku stopped in his tracks, around thirty feet in front of the behemoth.

Goku's hair blew and rippled in the wind flying through the desert. Cold had an angered and slightly annoyed face at the moment, and was not happy to see the Saiyan warrior right in front of his eyes.

"I suppose you've come here to destroy the Earth and take your revenge." Goku said as he looked at the king with disgust. Cold stared back at him.

"Who are you to be so brave?!" Cold asked, almost demanding an answer. Goku's face tightened up with anger even more.

"I am Son Goku, a Saiyan warrior, raised on this planet!" Goku said, his pride beginning to kick in. "And I will not let you harm anyone here!" Cold suddenly put on a smile. He stared even harder at the warrior.

"A Saiyan, huh? This should be fun. I never thought I'd see one again…" Cold said as he cracked his knuckles. He was poised in such position it began to look as if he wanted a fight.

"Show me if you are really that strong, Saiyan." Cold demanded. Without warning all of his soldiers darted towards Goku, however, Goku didn't move one bit. A group began to form, fists raised, ready to slam them into the powerful Saiyan. Quickly, Goku completely phased out of view. Not even King Cold could tell where he had went.

Behind them, on the top of a steep mountain, Goku was firing a large ki blast. Cold's scouter detected it, and he turned around. Goku's ki blast was enough to wipe out every single one of Cold's soldiers with ease. Before he fired it, Cold's scouter finally locked on to Goku's power level.

"How could… how could a Saiyan have such power? 6,000,000… How is it possible?" He asked himself as the ki blast barely zipped past him. Suddenly, the area went up in blazing blue light as the bodies of the soldiers were completely evaporated from existence. Even Cold's elites, with power levels up to 20,000, were destroyed instantaneously. The smoke cleared nearly a minute later, and a massive crater was all that was left of the entire landscape. There was no sign of Cold's ship or his men, but an angered king rose up from the ashes.

"You sure are strong… But I am leagues above you!" He said angrily. Goku merely smiled, still on top of the mountain. Below them was a smoking crater, charred and destroyed, no sign of any life. Cold began to zoom towards Goku. The King was extremely strong, and Goku was only in his base form. He could not detect Cold's movement as he came towards him at lightning speed.

A punch met Goku as it drilled into his stomach. His eyes opened wide as saliva spilled out of his mouth. As Goku was completely stunned, Cold took no time to grab Goku's head. With Goku in his grasp, he threw the stunned Saiyan at the mountain below, smashing him into it. Cold flew down and suddenly grabbed Goku's face. He then began to crush him into the mountain, however the resilience of Goku topped every fighter Cold had fought before. The mountain cracked under the sheer force of the attack, and Cold threw Goku straight into the collapsing rock. He then quickly sent a ki blast towards Goku, and in seconds the mountain burst into flame and destruction.

This sent a jolt through Goku, and he quickly pushed himself out of the grasp of the explosion. His gi was horribly ripped, the entire top half torn to shreds, so much so that it was gone, ripped off of him. He quickly got into a fighting stance to see Cold zooming towards him. With a quick power up, he multiplied his power by five times using the Kaioken technique.

Goku caught a heavy punch thrown by Cold, and went for one himself with his other hand. Cold caught that punch as well, and they found themselves in a grappling position, trying to push each other away. Due to Cold's recorded second form power level being an insane 50,000,000, he easily overpowered Goku, with even the Kaioken times five, as he racked up to only a 30,000,000 with said technique.

Goku was focused on trying to deal with Cold's strength when one of Cold's hands receded and formed into a fist. Faster than Goku could see, the fist flew straight into his face, launching him away. He gathered himself around twenty meters away from Cold. As he strode towards Goku, Goku began to power up. In seconds, a scream caught King Cold off guard.

"KAIOKEN TIMES TEN!" Goku screamed as the red aura enveloped him entirely, lighting up his underside and his hair. He launched at King Cold with menacing speed, and threw a powerful punch into his stomach. Cold was blown back nearly thirty feet, and only needed a quick power up to equal Goku in strength and speed. The king flew back at Goku and began a barrage of punches and kicks, which Goku blocked, all the while returning the favor with kicks and punches of his own. None of them could land a hit until a strong power began to emanate from from Cold. Soon enough, it began to rise, and the barrages that King Cold was delivering began to become much harder for Goku to block.

Without Goku seeing, a punch struck his face, followed by many more quick punches. In less than a half a second, nearly a hundred extremely fast kicks and punches were delivered to Goku's body until one finally knocked him away. He gathered himself mid launch and kicked off of a rock nearby. He landed himself on a nearby hill, and breathed heavily, power draining.

Hiding in behind the lip of a hill, the Z Fighters were watching the battle unfold. Much like Goku, they could tell the true power of this tyrant. None of them would stand a chance… not even Goku.

Suddenly and without warning, an enraged Gohan blasted off to the enemy standing before them. Cold's scouter picked up a growing power level of 1,900,000 to his left, and before he could turn to react, a kick landed flat against his skull. The kick did nearly no damage, and Cold's head was barely moved. His left hand grasped Gohan's leg. He then swung the half-Saiyan into the ground below, dealing quite some damage to the unknowing attacker.

Goku stared at this in misbelief, and began to power up. It was a small influx of ki at first, but it began to rocket off, his power rising and rising with no end in sight. Cold was about to put an end to this when another attacker barraged him from the side. It was Krillin, attempting to save his friend from a horrid death. His barrage did close to nothing, and the beast only had to turn around and allow his shoulder to collide with Krillin. The sheer power of the small hit sent the human flying, with a broken nose and swelling head.

Out of nowhere the trio of Tien, Chaozu, and Yamcha landed many a hit on Cold. Their powers together were merely a fly to the tyrant, but their combined attacks stunned him for a second. In the distance, the ground began to shake. Goku was powering up to insane levels, and Cold stood in awe of the destructive force Goku's ki was creating before all of the other Z Fighters barraged him with combined kicks, punches, headbutts, ki blasts, everything that could hurt the opponent. Leaving the others to fight, Gohan leapt out of the fray. He raised a hand up into the sky, and a yellow ball of energy began to grow from nothing.

He threw his hand downward, still carrying the energy in his palm. A reading popped up on Cold's scouter as he was fighting the Z Fighters. It was an oddly powerful reading coming from the Saiyan Gohan. A reading of a surprising 8,500,000. Suddenly, Gohan screamed, and a beam of yellow light shot from his hand. The Z Fighters could sense this insane power and backed away, not wanting to be hit by this destructive force. Cold was too late to move, and the beam struck him like a truck. He was covered in the powerful energy, and once the attack had come to its end, the only thing the Z Fighters could see was smoke and flame.

Even Goku had paused his insane power up to see the attack. Sadly, it was not enough. The outline of an angered alien began to appear in the smoke, and an attack too fast to see struck Gohan. He was out cold instantly, all of his previous power gone in one shot.

Goku, now even more angered at the king, made a horrifying scream that echoed throughout the landscape. His power blew up in insane amounts, stopping nowhere as it climbed and climbed. He then said three chilling words…

"KAIOKEN…" He yelled. "TIMES… FORTY!" Such an expanse in energy would wear him out in seconds, so he had to use it quickly and efficiently. Cold, not using much power, did not expect such strength coming from a Saiyan. The power was immense, and Cold could not see him anywhere as he disappeared from sight. A fraction of a second later, he appeared far behind Cold, and cupped his hands out infront of him.

A ball of blue ki appeared in his hand, growing larger by the second. He was about to unleash his strongest Kamehameha ever fired, not holding back one bit. Once he pushed his arms forward, a blue wave of destruction flew towards the tyrant, who had just turned around at the sign of the blue light. He quickly put his hands up to stop the beam, and it was almost successful. He was pushed back by sheer force, ground shaking and cracking, light filling the space around them. However, a red aura appeared around Cold. A large explosion followed, and suddenly Goku's Kamehameha was overpowered by Cold's attack.

When the smoke cleared, Cold's power had grown immensely. On top of that, he was now smaller. In appearance, he was similar to Frieza's final form…

And so it begins.


	5. Chapter 5 - Piccolo Arrives

In the ends of space, far away from the battle raging on Earth, a fist met the ground of a dead planet. This fist belonged to the one and only Vegeta. He had grown much more powerful since his battle with Frieza, but he would not stop training until he became the legend, the Super Saiyan himself.

'Twas his destiny, it was written in the fine lines of history since he had been born. It was his true calling, his last chance. He was bloodied and broken from his insane training session, now exhausted as well. He panted as he slowly stood up.

"What is happening on planet Earth? I sense huge powers…"

"Heh heh heh… You fools." Cold beamingly stated as he cracked a smile. "Do you really believe your pathetic powers can beat me?" Goku and the others were in disbelief. They were sweating, not only from the heat of battle, but from the train of terror about to become them.

"If any mechanical device could read my power, it would be over 300,000,000." Cold stated as his smile grew. Goku's eyes widened and twitched as he stared at the king.

"And, unfortunately for you, Saiyan, I've seen the peak of your power. It was a mere 240,000,000, which I must admit is a lot for a lowlife monkey such as you, but not nearly enough to defeat me. I suggest giving up." Cold said, encouraging the warriors to back down. They nearly did, until a power was felt in the distance. It was massive, larger than King Cold's, even. And soon enough, the power landed on a nearby plateau.

It was Piccolo, in the flesh, freshly reunited with the guardian of the earth. His face showed both anger and pride as he scanned the landscape. He saw Goku and the Z Fighters first, then he noticed the confused yet angered face of King Cold looking up at him. With a quick jump off of the plateau, he stood only meters in front of the menace. He looked behind himself at the battered Z Fighters.

"Go. Get yourselves healed. I will deal with this." Piccolo said as the Z Fighters slowly backed away.

"Man… I've never sensed a power like that before! He's even stronger than Cold…" Krillin stated, eyes widened by the sheer increase in power that Piccolo had taken.

"Krillin, where did you put the Senzu beans we brought?" Goku asked as he looked down at Krillin. Krillin looked back up.

"They're on the rock where we were watching you fight." Krillin replied as he looked back at Piccolo. His weighted armor was already off, and he was wearing his purple gi.

"C'mon guys, let's go." Goku commanded the others, and soon enough, they flew back to the rock. Goku picked up the bag of Senzu Beans and then caught up with the others not too far away. They were heading to Kame house, where everyone had gathered.

"So a silly little Namekian thinks he can stand up to me? My son killed thousands of your race when he was on Namek." Cold stated, expecting an easy fight from the newly fused Namek. Piccolo stared at Cold and was silent momentarily. His face of seriousness was still etched onto his head, this would be a fight, a difficult one indeed.

"Trust me. I'm not like any other Namekian you've fought before." Piccolo replied to Cold's statement, still staring at Cold. He then crouched down in a stance as to power up. He let out a yell as a large aura of ki wrapped around him. The ground began to shake violently as large rocks were ripped out of the ground. Cracks formed all around them, and what was left of the many plateaus around them were blown away by the sheer imbalance of Piccolo's ki.

Cold just stared, arms crossed, face slightly twitching. A drop of sweat ran down his head. Suddenly, Piccolo phased from view. He reappeared behind Cold, and elbowed the king in the back of the head. He was sent flying, and tripped into the ground. He got up only to be kneed in the stomach by another one of Piccolo's attacks.

A barrage of punches and kicks from Piccolo made their mark, colliding with Cold, each attack like a sting from a hundred wasps. One final punch to the chest sent Cold flying away, into the rubble and stones from the collapsed plateaus. Piccolo stood still for a second as Cold struggled to get up. He was battered already from Piccolo's insane barrage of attacks.

"W… What?" Cold muttered to himself as he stood, putting on an angered face. Piccolo then lunged towards the weakened king, grabbing him by the shoulders. He sent his head flying towards Cold's forehead, and the force of the attack made Cold put out a scream. Piccolo then flew a kick upward, sending King Cold flying into the sky.

The stunned tyrant could not detect the attacks before they were sent, he merely reacted with a yell of pain. While he was flying upwards as of Piccolo's attack, Piccolo suddenly appeared above him. He put both his fists together and raised them high. A quick downward motion of his arms sent his fists right into Cold's head. This sent Cold on a long drop towards the ground, and he was able to regain himself mid fall. He landed on the ground upright, but not until the Namekian flung himself at Cold and sent a barrage of powerful attacks at the tyrant.

Cold was able to regain his bearings, and managed to block Piccolo's first few attacks. They were then locked in a fast paced battle, with Piccolo slowly pushing Cold back. His speed was insane, and his power was immense, nothing that Cold had ever seen before. Not even Goku could stay with a calm expression as he felt the power that Piccolo displayed. In the middle of their heated battle, Piccolo phased from view. Moments later, he reappeared at least twenty meters away from Cold and put his hand out, fingers extended, palm facing the king.

Piccolo, with a yell, sent out a ball of destructive energy at Cold. It collided with the king, and the area filled up with a dark brown smoke. Piccolo then regained his balance and stared into the smoke. He knew that Cold had survived the blast, as he both detected Cold's energy and knew that he should survive that blast.

"C'mon, Cold. You aren't fooling me." Piccolo exclaimed with an almost soothing voice into the brown smoke clouding up the crater of a battlefield. After a few seconds of staring into the clouded arena, Piccolo suddenly felt Cold's energy disappear, only to reappear behind him. Piccolo was startled, and as soon as Cold had fully reappeared, he sent his elbow into the back of Piccolo's neck, knocking him forward many steps. He quickly turned around, only to be knocked in the right cheek by a powerful punch.

"What happened? Cold has gotten much stronger…" Piccolo thought to himself as he regained balance. Before Cold could pull anything more, Piccolo phased out of view and unphased himself on a rock formation near the battlefield.

"Well then… Looks like I'll have to pull out some more…" Piccolo thought while he motioned himself into a position in which he'd power up. He began to yell as an aura of ki took over his form as his power rose. King Cold looked to his right, now hearing the terrifying yell of Piccolo. Piccolo's aura of ki disappeared, and he then let out a sigh of air. In a now relaxed position, he stared down Cold. In a matter of seconds, Piccolo was out of sight. Cold was startled as he reappeared in front of him in almost no time at all.

With a yell, Piccolo let out a fist that smashed against the face of the space tyrant. Cold was thrown backwards at a high speed until Piccolo then showed up again behind him as he was flying through the air. A kick to the back stopped all momentum that Cold had going, and he crippled onto the ground. Quickly but in large pain, Cold stood up, trying to fathom the immense power coming from the Namekian. He knew there was only one thing he could do, one choice that he could make. Cold would have to reach 100% power.

Cold smirked and fixed himself into a fighting position, then quickly dashed towards Piccolo. With his left hand a fist, Cold threw a devastating punch at the Namekian. He then threw many more, making sure to daze Piccolo for a matter of time so that he could transform without worrying about being hit. Piccolo was launched into a nearby rock formation, dazed and startled, not knowing what just hit him.

Cold began to yell as the red ki aura wrapped around him, like a burning fire roaring in a small town. It was so powerful that not even the landscape around him could hold together. The crater that was their battlefield grew larger, mountains were thrown up into the air like playthings. Cold began to grow. His muscles bulged, trying to maintain his power. His arrogance lifted skyhigh, his anger, furious. Finally, it all stopped. The rocks and boulders thrown up by Cold's might fell to the ground, crumbling on the solid earth. The wind stopped blowing violently, and the earth stopped shaking.

Back at Kame House, the Z Fighters were watching this ensue via the magic of Fortuneteller Baba. Goku and the others were in disbelief of Cold's ultimate power. Goku put on an extremely shocked expression, while the face that Gohan took was even more fearful. Piccolo fell from the safety of the mountain into the dirt ground. He got up quickly, only to stare in fear at Cold's power.

"I… I pulled out all that I have… yet Cold's power is like nothing I have ever seen before…" Piccolo said, fearing for the wellbeing of the earth. How would he match this beast of power? How could he fight against something that he just can't fight?

"Ha ha ha ha…" Cold chuckled as he stared at Piccolo, who was paralyzed with fear, "This is my full power… 100%. You might as well give up now, you have no chance. The scientists estimate my full power to be 400,000,000."

Piccolo had nothing to say. He was too busy fearing for his life, slowly backing up against the mountain.

"N… No…" Piccolo stuttered as the king began to walk towards him. Cold now looked much like Freeza at full power. Suddenly, Cold threw out a punch, much too fast for Piccolo to even catch a glimpse of. The punch landed on his left cheek, sending him flying through the mountain behind him and into the ground further back. The punch was so powerful that it had nearly broken his neck.

"Oh no!" Goku yelled as he began to sweat. He was dressed in a new pair of gi, sitting with the others who had also redressed. Gohan had nothing to say. He watched in fear, as he thought that their lives were over.

"H… How is there anyone that powerful?..." Krillin asked no one in particular. He stuttered every word, in absolute fear.

Piccolo struggled to stand up, shaking, with a bleeding face and broken nose.

"His… His punch reduced me to this… A single punch…"

Cold blew up the mountain between them with a small ki blast. Rocks and boulders flew everywhere as Cold walked towards the beaten Piccolo. Piccolo just stood, staring at the king, trying to think of a way out of this. He was beaten and exhausted from a single punch, he couldn't take many more. The king slowly walked towards him, as Piccolo, reduced to a crippled heap, could only watch and try to think.

Goku growled deeply with an angered face. His power was rising, it was clear that he was extremely angered at the king.

"That's it! I'm going to help Piccolo!" Goku screamed as he ran to the door. Gohan turned his head to see his dad about to leave.

"Father, no!" Gohan yelled to Goku as the door opened. But it was too late, Goku was already zooming off towards battle, to save Piccolo and the world.

At the scene of the fight, Piccolo fired a quick ki blast at Cold. In the midst of smoke and debris, he jumped out of the fray and onto a hill nearby.

" _Huff..._ Got away… _Huff…_ " Piccolo struggled to say as he looked down at the smoke cloud below. Without warning, Cold appeared no more than a meter in front of Piccolo. He swiftly kneed the side of Piccolo's head, nearly knocking him out while throwing him what could be a mile away.

However, a ways away from the battle, Goku settled on an unbroken plateau. His face was made up of pure anger, staring at the king so far away. His kaioken aura wrapped itself around him and he darted towards the battle. Cold was nearly ready to unleash a punch to Piccolo's stomach, surely doing major internal damage to the Namekian.

He let out his arm, throwing it towards the beaten Piccolo, until Goku appeared between them. With his kaioken transformation already enabled, he was able to block Cold's attack, thus giving him an opening. Goku yelled as he sent his free hand into Cold's stomach, all the while slightly throwing up the multiplier on the Kaioken attack. His zenkai boost achieved from his fight against Cold earlier boosted his power up a good amount, putting him near 8,000,000. At Kaioken grade 18, he was able to slightly phase Cold, and this extremely powerful punch sent by Goku was able to knock Cold back quite a distance.

Goku undid his Kaioken as to not sustain much fatigue from it. He then picked up Piccolo and hopped away to hide. He had brought the last two remaining senzu beans from the bag he had brought earlier in the fight, and gave one to Piccolo. He gasped as all of his energy and power was brought back to him.

"G… Goku?" Piccolo asked as he stood up. Goku simply smiled, before saying,

"Yup!" They then focused themselves on sensing Cold's energy, which was immense. It appeared as if he had gotten up from Goku's attack and was now searching for them. Even with Piccolo back at full power, both of them were too weak to fight King Cold head on.

"Goku. I've got a plan." Piccolo suggested as his eyes followed Cold's energy behind the plateau. Goku nodded, allowing Piccolo to continue. He then listened.

"If you can use your kaioken technique as far as you can make it go, you can at least stun Cold for a matter of time. Once you have done it, I will unleash all my power at him. It has to kill him…" Piccolo exclaimed with a serious tone. Goku agreed, and soon enough they were floating up to the top of the plateau they were hiding behind. Cold was now at least a kilometer away, busy blasting areas all around the crater of a battlefield.

"Hey, Cold! Your fight is over here!" Goku yelled at the top of his lungs. They were both ready for anything. Cold heard this and turned his head to look behind him. He spotted both the Saiyan and the Namekian, and began to fly towards the two. Before Cold was halfway to them, Piccolo phased out of view and reappeared quite a ways behind Cold. He then prepared to do his most powerful attack… the Light Grenade.

Goku yelled at the top of his lungs as his hair began to blow around. A red ki aura covered him as he began to rise in power.

"KAIOKEN TIMES 40!" He yelled as a boom of light filled the air. Cold was blinded for a few moments while Goku rushed at him. As soon as Cold regained his visibility, Goku was already raising for a punch. It crashed into Cold like a truck, forcing him backwards. The shockwave effect from the attack cracked the landscape. Goku sent another punch, this time Cold blocked. Then another, then another. They were now locked in a barrage of attacks, with Cold still on the advantage.

Piccolo began to yell as his body was enveloped in ki. Smoke and dust was kicked up all around him as the ki in between his hands flashed repeatedly. In less than a minute he would be ready to fire the attack.

Goku was still locked in hand to hand combat with the king. He was beginning to sweat from the weight of the kaioken. He needed to end this soon. Piccolo was nearly ready to launch the attack, and he had to get Cold into a still position. Moments later, he thought of something. Before one of Cold's punches landed, Goku phased out of view. He reappeared a few moments later behind Cold, hands cupped, a blue light forming between them.

"Me… HA!" Goku yelled as he threw his arms forward. A beam of blue light bursted out of his hands and covered Cold entirely. A few seconds later, the beam hit the ground, and all that was left was smoke, and the falling body of Cold. He struck the ground with a thud and got up a second later. He stood and stared at Goku, who was now back in his base form, sweat pouring down his face. This had all happened in the span of not even half a minute, yet Goku was exhausted from the toll of the Kaioken.

Now Piccolo had a clear shot. He would not waste this, and would certainly not miss.

"Alright, Cold… say goodbye!" Piccolo yelled as a large rocket of energy blasted out of his hands. It sped towards Cold, sure to destroy him entirely. Cold felt the heat of the ki blast behind him, and quickly turned his head around to see what had happened. He saw the blast, and, for the first time since he could remember, felt fear.

The blast collided with Cold, and the area was coated in the brightest light ever to be produced.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Super Saiyans

His planet is on the brink of complete destruction. The surface is cracking, releasing bright rays of light from beneath. Vegeta is near death, on the ground, spitting blood. This time he has gone too far, caught himself in his own blast, nearly killing him instantly. He almost knows that he won't be able to get out of this, his spaceship is nearly a mile away. His ki is weakened and dwindled down to just a thread, it would take all of the effort he had to even lift himself off the ground.

But he is still determined. The planet itself is tearing apart, this done by Vegeta himself. He is injured almost beyond repair, and will die in minutes if he does not reach his ship. He coughs up more blood, holding his chest while kneeling on the ground. Breathing extremely heavily, he focuses on his legs. Whilst pushing his arm against the planet for support, he sends all of his energy down below his waist, letting his staggering legs extend to a small margin. He continues this effort, and soon enough he is standing on two feet, one arm to his side and another still holding his chest.

He had managed to find more Saiyan armor on an abandoned Freeza planet, full of dead creatures who had been brutally murdered by some passerby. But, here he is now… pushing himself too far. He forced himself with all his power to move his leg forward, and with this, he managed to stagger a few feet closer to his ship. The ground shook from the collapsing core, and he nearly toppled over, but was able to stay upright. His armor was torn to shreds, it was no use anymore. Although it weighed nearly nothing, he tore it off with his free arm.

He yelled, both in pain and in desperation, as he walked forward a few more feet. The planet shook again. Another crack opened only a few meters to his left, and a fiery heat erupted out of it. He forced himself forward another step. The crack grew, and this time is almost encircled him, spitting out heated magma from the planet's core. Vegeta fell, barely able to move his legs anymore. He bled a puddle of red liquid on the rocky surface of the dead planet, and with another cough, he closed his eyes tightly before struggling to push himself up with both his arms.

"I'm… I'm going to die… I… can't get to my ship…" Vegeta thought to himself with great disappointment, "Damn it all…" Vegeta raised his left arm up, the same arm that was holding his chest a minute ago, and slammed it into the ground. There was a small crater left behind from the impact.

"All of this… for nothing!" Vegeta exclaimed out loud, in pure anger. He was grieving in his mind as he remembered his home planet, now gone forever. He remembered his father, King Vegeta, his mother, even his little brother, Tarble. A tear met the ground as Vegeta dug his forehead into it. He yelled, his scream muffled by the rumbling of the dying planet.

"Kakarrot… He'll be the only one… I'll just be forgotten…" Vegeta said possibly to the planet, his blood now mixing with his salty tears. For the first time since he could remember, Vegeta was grieving for not only his planet and his family.

"I'm sorry… Kakarrot… you really are better than me."

Then something changed. Something started up in his mind, something that was there the entire time, but he never knew. Vegeta yelled in grief. He screamed into the dead sky… And an aura overtook him. It was bright gold, giving him new power he had never known existed within him. His hair stood up even more than it had before, and had taken on a bright gold color. Vegeta was a Super Saiyan.

He was startled by this at first, this expanse in power was like nothing he had ever achieved. Without effort, he stood up. Staring down at his torn gloves and hands, he finally knew… He had become the legend. It was his destiny, and he had achieved it. Now he hovered up, away from the cracks and smoke piling up over the planet. In the distance, he spotted his ship, completely intact, as if it was spared by the broken planet. At speeds he thought he would never achieve, he zoomed to the ship, and without thinking, pulled himself in. Although he was still near death and bleeding heavily, he had only one thought in mind: To get off of this planet.

Once he reached the controls, his aura was still covering him. He hit the correct combination of buttons, and in seconds was flying off to some odd planet, one he had never heard of before. He had no need to control the ship, its destination was already set. Now he needed to be healed. Still a Super Saiyan, he rushed to the emergency medical bay built into the ship. It was a small room down the hall from the cockpit, complete with a bed, many drawers filled with medical supplies, and a sink in the corner for washing up. Vegeta was still wearing the blue, skin-tight suit that was worn under the armor, and tore it off. Along with it went his gloves and boots, and now he was just in his underwear.

His many wounds and bruises were now exposed, and he ran to the sink. Turning on the tap, he ran his hands under the flow of water, his aura how gone, but his hair still a golden hue. Along with power and speed, the Super Saiyan transformation also raised his durability, allowing him to survive longer with his deep wounds. Even with this, he would need to heal them as fast as possible. He splashed the water against his scarred face, washing off most of the blood.

He then wiped off his arms, again removing the blood from the open wounds. He did the same with his torso, splashing water against the floor. Finally, he washed his legs. He knew basic medical procedures from his teaching back on Planet Vegeta, but it might not be enough. After this, he rushed to the many drawers without drying himself off, dripping water everywhere, along with the fresh blood leaking from his wounds. He scoured the cabinets until he found an antibacterial solution along with thick, gauze bandages. Sadly, the race he stole this ship from did not have the superior healing technology available to the Saiyans, so the medical supplies were inferior. They would have to do the trick, though.

Vegeta splashed the antibacterial liquid all over his wounds, hoping to stop any infections. He was nearly ready to apply the bandages, until he remembered the many deep wounds in his chest. These would not heal on their own. He applied the bandages to the minor wounds before hopping to his feet (He was sitting on the bed while applying the bandages) and searching the remaining cabinets for something that could close the wounds.

"Only if I had those senzu beans, or whatever Kakarrot called them…" Vegeta mumbled to himself, angry that he would need this much to heal minor wounds. He had, at this point, forgotten about his Super Saiyan transformation, yet his hair was still golden. He attained the staples he found from one of the cabinets, and decided that it would have to do. Sitting down on the bed once more, he squeezed his chests wounds closed as far as they would close before pressing the trigger on the staple gun, forcing a staple into his skin and closing a part of the wound.

"Good thing I had applied that antibacterial stuff…" Vegeta thought as he continued to staple his wound back together. Any normal human would be in extreme pain while doing this, but because of Vegeta's Saiyan biology, and on top of being a Super Saiyan, he was experiencing practically no pain. He continued this staple process until he was complete closing all his wounds, and then proceeded to wrap the thick gauze around the wounds, ending each strip off with a piece of medical tape.

"Phew…" Vegeta sighed once this process was complete.

A matter of hours later, Vegeta was sleeping soundly in the basement of the ship while it flew its way to the planet he had set its destination to. The endeavor of getting off the planet almost killed him, and all that he needs now is a nap before he gets back to training.

The sky was filled with smoke, the blinding light gone… The crater that was once a battlefield was not replaced with a deep hole, erupting a steady stream of smoke from its insides.

"Wow… Piccolo, you might've actually done it!" Goku exclaimed happily as he stared down at the black plume of smoke. Rocks and small pebbles rained down from the sky, as a result of the recently fired Light Grenade. Piccolo was breathing heavily, although he did not seem as happy as Goku was. Instead, he stared into the smoke in disbelief, eyes wide, mouth gaping.

"N… no… he's not dead…" Piccolo managed to spit out as he slowly backed away. Goku put on a confused face, before realizing Cold's power was not gone. Cold was weakened brutally by the attack, but it did not kill him… now the two only feared for the worst. Some of the dark smoke began to clear as the outline of Cold was seen by both Goku and Piccolo. Suddenly, he was revealed with arms crossed, as to have blocked the attack, and legs slightly extended outward. His power was drained noticeably, but he was still easily stronger than the now weakened Piccolo and the power drained Goku. He looked at them with a smirk, and released his muscley arms down to his sides, along with bringing in his legs. He was now standing upright, staring down Piccolo.

"Heheheh… Nice try." Cold said gently to Piccolo. His face was of pure evil, he was too much for the both of them. Cold suddenly dashed towards the drained Piccolo faster than anything could see. For a few moments, cold merely stood tall and stared down at Piccolo. Out of nowhere, Cold's arm moved upwards, fingers extended, palm facing the side of Piccolo's face. Then, a quick but powerful slap was sent towards the Namekian, launching him miles away. He then was sent through multiple mountains by the momentum of Cold's attack, and landed with a loud thud in an open desert field, sending up a cloud of brown dust.

Goku was in complete shock. He stayed hovering a ways above the all powerful king, staring down at the battle. There was nothing they could do. It was all over. Goku was nowhere near Cold's power, and Piccolo was out cold nearly a mile from the scene of battle. King Cold was just too much. Goku was furious, for many reasons. He was powerless in this situation. He couldn't do anything, the world could not be saved… There was no chance. He growled, eyebrows pointing down, teeth showing. He felt his power begin to rise.

He was powerless… he could not save anyone… it was pointless… He didn't care anymore. He thought about Gohan, Piccolo, Chi Chi, Tien, Krillin, all of his acquaintances and friends. He would let them all down… He had to save them… Suddenly, something… changed. Goku felt no fear, no pain, no grief, no love. He felt nothing. He began to yell, his power expanded, his feelings leaving him. And then his hair turned gold. His aura overtook him, turning bright gold.

Cold turned, and had a rush of fear overtake him. He had heard the legends… the legends of the Super Saiyans. Their golden hair, their immense power, but he never thought it was true.

Goku was now a Super Saiyan.

Cold gasped. He just stared.

"W… what are you now?..." He asked quietly, fear filling his face, his mood going from viscously happy to extremely fearful. Goku took no time to answer. His face now bended itself from grief to arrogance. Faster than light itself, he zoomed towards Cold. In no time at all, he was standing in front of the cosmic king, staring him down, not even a slight feeling of fear in his brain.

"He's… he's fast!" Cold thought, his face now bent as if he was terrified, and he clenched his massive fists. Throwing his arm back, he set up for a punch. Goku merely stood, still staring at the face of King Cold. Cold threw the powerful punch, as strong as the punches that almost killed Piccolo, and Goku raised his hand. With no effort exerted at all, Goku grabbed the punch in midair, blocking it with ease. His golden aura grew as he kneeled down. With his left, free hand, he sent a punch many times faster than light itself into Cold's stomach.

Cold's entire body burst into pain as he staggered backwards, holding his stomach. Blood began dripping from his mouth as he leaned over, the ground below him welcoming it like it was its home. Cold, shaking from pain, got back into a fighting position, now extremely angry. Goku merely stood there, arms to his sides, staring at the king. This went on for a few moments until Cold flew at Goku and sent a speedy barrage of attacks at the Saiyan adversary. Goku, with his newfound power, easily blocked each attack.

Cold's brain was working overtime, looking for every opening, every chance to strike his opponent. Soon enough, he found one. His arms were a ways away from his head, and it was completely open. He sent hit right fist straight into Goku's forehead. The force from the punch was enough to knock Goku back, and with this Cold did not waste any time.

Jumping up from his position about 20 meters, Cold hovered in the sky and quickly began to shoot a powerful blast volley at the partially stunned Saiyan. Explosions and smoke filled the entire battlefield, and the crater grew even more. Cold shot out volleys faster and faster, not taking a single break between blasts. He must have fired off a few hundred when he finally receded from his attack.

Cold was breathing heavily, having lost a good chunk of his power while doing the recent blast volley. Although he was near exhaustion, he smirked, and kept his place in the air.

"Damn Saiyan didn't stand a chance. Super Saiyan or not, I'm still on top." Cold said, his ego shining. He thought that he had won the battle, that the fight was over. Not even Piccolo could have withstanded that level of attack. However, when the smoke cleared, what Cold saw would be in his nightmares. The golden aura still flickered,and the golden haired Saiyan stood, alive, seeming to have lost no power whatsoever.

"What?... How?" Cold asked the seemingly invincible Goku.

"Cold, it's what you feared. I… Son Goku… am a Super Saiyan!" Goku replied to the frightened king, "And I will not let you kill anyone of this planet!" Suddenly, Cold's worried face turned from a smile.

"Hahaha!" He bellowed, still letting out a smile, "Do you really think you can beat the mighty King Cold?!" He kept on chuckling, eyes squeezed shut. At this point he would do anything to save himself… It was merely a bluff. Goku was still much stronger than Cold.

Goku smirked and stared up at the king.

"Yep. I'll do it, too!" Goku yelled with a determined face. The king continued to laugh. He was completely lost in humor, and Goku would use this as an advantage. He flew up towards the laughing Cold and sent a powerful punch into the king's chin using the momentum he had gained. This sent Cold out of his laughing fit and into the sky, now stunned by the attack.

With this, Goku flew upward towards Cold. He flew above the king, and then put both his fists together and raised them high. Letting out a grunt, he sent both fists into the head of the dazed king, both dealing damage and sending him back to the ground.

Cold collided with the ground with much force, causing a massive explosion. Cracks opened up on the battlefield, turning the rounded crater into a massive chasm. Dust was brought up from the broken landscape, and Cold was completely stunned.

Goku looked downward at the carnage he had just caused. Without thinking, Goku put his arms out in front of him. He then cupped them, as he was a about to perform the Kamehameha wave once more.

"Ka…" Goku pushed his arms out as far as they would go.

"Me…" He then pulled his arms back, to his sides, as the blue ball of energy began to form.

"Ha…" Beams of ki exploded from the originating energy sphere, like glowing rays of light from the sun.

"Me…" He slowly began to jut his arms forward…

"HAAA!" He threw his arms out towards Cold as the beam of blue light shone from his hands. In mere moments, the blast collided with the ground, and with it, Cold.


	7. Chapter 7 - Goku's Reciprocation

The sky was blotted in dense smoke and flame, massive rocks being shot up into the sky like speedy cannonballs shot from the gun of a humongous battleship. The sounds exploded into the eardrums of all in earshot, and the destructive force was enough to have destroyed multiple planets had it not been for Cold's use as a meat shield. Lighting spewed up from the ground as a result of the massive spread of electricity and destructive force. It was a living nightmare.

At Kame House, Baba's mystical crystal sphere shone bright with energy. Lightning, bright, blue lightning, was shot around the whole of Kame House, lighting it up with a brilliant series of flashes and colors. Everyone watching the battle ensue was shocked, the energy displayed by the awesome power of Goku was too much to bear. The force emanating from the magical globular piece of glass forced everyone back a few inches, and showed the shocked expressions of the Z Fighters.

In the midst of this amazing battle, Gohan knew that Piccolo was out there, far away from the battle, needing help. Goku's amazing power was not nearly enough to stop the forceful attack displayed by King Cold, draining all of Piccolo's power and launching his body over a mile in the distance.

Gohan must help Piccolo. He was determined, so much so that, without warning, he leapt from the lengthy couch he was just recently sitting on and was out of the door in moments.

"Gohan!" Chi Chi yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to catch the attention of the fleeing child. It was well too late, however. Gohan had already burst out the door and was zooming towards the epic battle ensuing miles away. He was extremely enraged, ready to help Piccolo at all costs. He had hidden one extra senzu bean under the belt band of his purple gi, concealing it at all costs in case a problem arose such as this one.

He zoomed, faster than the speed of sound towards the battle raging across the planet. In minutes, he had arrived at the battle, but stayed far from the raging duel between the Super Saiyan and the King of the Cosmos. He searched for a while until he found the unconscious Namek sprawled out in the middle of a large crater nearly a mile from the fight. His gi was ripped and teared, and across the whole of his body were scrapes, scratches, and blood. His mouth dangled open and his eyes were shut. Gohan hovered down to the left side of Piccolo.

With Piccolo already laying on his back, Gohan ruffled in his gi for the concealed senzu bean. In a few seconds he had it in his grip, and with his other hand, grabbed Piccolo's jaw. He then dropped the senzu bean into his immobile mouth while moving his jaw up and down. Gohan was able to crack the senzu bean and get it into smaller pieces, but he wouldn't be able to get Piccolo to swallow.

Gohan wasn't very ecstatic about his next decision, however, he did it anyway, without Piccolo's consent. Gohan raised the hand holding Piccolo's jaw and, with a good chunk of his power, flung his hand downwards towards Piccolo's left cheek. The impact from Gohan's palm allowed Piccolo's head to swivel to the right, and the sheer force of the blow whipped Piccolo's body into functioning once more.

Piccolo's eyed opened first with a shocked look. His mouth then started to move as he swallowed the broken senzu bean. With a gulp, the chunks were sucked down his throat and into his stomach. With this, Piccolo shot up, still sitting down, however. He looked to his left at Gohan and smiled.

"Thank you, Gohan." Piccolo said calmly to his once pupil. Before saying another word, Piccolo reached down to his right hip and grabbed at the laced up bag situated under the belt of his gi. Having brought the bag in front of his face, he dug his right hand into the sack and snatched the last remaining senzu bean. He looked at it momentarily, as to make sure that the bean was still intact. He then whipped his hand, holding the senzu bean, in front of Gohan. For a second Gohan looked confused, until he realized what Piccolo was doing.

"Gohan," Piccolo requested, "Take the last senzu bean. Goku gave me it. It could come in handy." Piccolo finished, remembering how Goku had handed him the entire sack while they were brainstorming a plan. Gohan swiped at the bean and situated it in the belt of his gi, as he had done with the previous bean. With this, Piccolo stood up as the two watched the duel from afar.

Goku dodged every attack that Cold threw at him. It was almost effortless for the Saiyan as he continued to move his head side to side and periodically throwing up his arm to block a sneaky attack from Cold. His face showed no expressions as Cold shot punch upon punch at the Super Saiyan.

Suddenly, Goku darted upward as a speedy punch was thrown from Cold. Realizing that the Saiyan had disappeared, Cold quickly relocated Goku and darted upwards himself. Smiling, he threw a final punch at Goku to finish the powerful combination. Goku's eyes widened as his aura overtook his body. As Cold's punch came in for a hit, Goku quickly threw his left arm up, wrapping his fingers around Cold's wrist and almost effortlessly postponing the attack.

Cold thought of going in for another hit with his left arm, at the moment free from any trouble, but his common sense debunked that as a large mistake. It would only mean an opening for the Super Saiyan. Instead, his face took on an angered look as he struggled to pull his arm out of the Saiyan's lock. This was to no avail, as he thought would happen, and he began to be overtaken by fear.

He kept trying to budge Goku's arm as the Saiyan began to speak.

"That's enough," Goku exclaimed with determination and assurance, "I won't give you any more mercy." Cold forced all of his energy into budging his own arm.

"You've shown me that there is no good in you," Goku continued with arrogance building, "IT'S OVER, COLD!" Goku's grip loosened and Cold took this opportunity to release his arm. With this he forced himself backwards, both angry and fearful of Goku's power.

"Dad… I don't believe it…" Gohan said, in shock, "You've become what Vegeta was talking about… A Super Saiyan!" Piccolo merely smiled, having now been able to confirm that Goku would win this brawl. They kept standing, watching the battle ensue from a distance.

"IT'S ALL OVER…" Goku yelled with boiling rage, "KING COLD!" He the zoomed at the King with a speed unimaginable. With the momentum from his flight, Goku slammed a fist into Cold's left cheek, sending him speeding away from Goku, dazed and wounded. Goku then sped once more towards the space tyrant, fists together almost like a hammer. Sending his arms downward, his fists collided with King Cold devastatingly. In a world of pain, Cold struck the rocky ground, throwing up an explosion of dust.

Standing in pain on the rocky rubble, Cold seeked only to destroy this Super Saiyan. He was breathing very heavily, his ki beginning to slowly drain. Cold knew that he needed an attack to end this battle without exerting much more power than he already had. His final form was like a shower drain, boiling his ki down to the breaking point and sucking it into an abyss for he himself to die in. It was a risky form, only to be used at the most dangerous of times. He could not last much longer like this.

An idea entered his head. He began to smile as he hovered upwards. Goku was patiently waiting for him nearly forty meters above, ready for his next attack, that is if he could do anything about it. Once Cold had leveled with the height of Goku, he smirked and began to laugh.

"Try to dodge this one, monkey!" Cold yelled excitedly at Goku. Cold began to lift up his right arm. His index finger began to extend, and it seemed as if he was pointing at the Super Saiyan. Suddenly, with a quick grunt, a red beam exploded from his fingertip at unimaginable speeds and zipped towards Goku. However, to the surprise of King Cold, Goku phased out of the way of the Death Beam, and it continued on into the horizon.

"W...what…? He dodged it?" King Cold worryingly asked no one in general, "Impossible!" Cold's face turned from worryingly surprised to angry in less than a second. Not wasting any time for his ki to drain, Cold fired off a massive barrage of Death Beams at Goku. However, Goku dodged these ones effortlessly as he had done the previous. This set something off in Cold's brain, something sinister. His anger peaked, and he was livid.

"DAMN YOU!" Cold yelled as he collapsed in on himself, tensing up with strong rage and animosity, "HOW AM I BEING BEATEN BY A WEAK MONKEY?!" Hearing this, Goku smirked. He said nothing, however, waiting many moments before opening his mouth.

"I told you, Cold. It's over." Goku calmingly spoke. Something else snapped inside of Cold's mind. His face of pure rage and anger took on a different look, that of a calm, absent minded individual. This did not last long, however, as his face then switched back to his frustrated and furious look it had had before. Without warning, he zipped up to the sky as his hands sent themselves up in the air. Quickly, a large red ball of pure ki energy generated above his palms.

"THAT'S IT!" Cold yelled furiously to Goku, "THIS PLANET IS FINISHED!" Goku now snapped, realizing what he had done. He had initiated Cold into a complete burst of rage, and with this, had doomed the planet. Cold speedily threw his hands down as the small ball of dense, concentrated energy zoomed toward the crater marked planet.

"No… NO!" Piccolo yelled out as he set of zooming towards the battlefield. Fresh and full of energy, he knew he had to help save the world in some way or other.

"Piccolo!" Gohan yelled, wide-eyed and worried. After saying this, Gohan then flew after the nervous Piccolo.

Goku thought it was over. That him and everyone he knew and loved would die. Their lives would be over. And this would have been the case not had it been for a strong minded Namekian with a will to guard the earth. Piccolo zoomed under the powerful energy blast and yelled, throwing a powerful punch at the planet level destructive ki attack, sending it speeding back towards the open sky.

Cold was enraged. He now would do anything to win this battle. While Goku was caught off guard, Cold raised his hand to fire yet another Death Beam at the Saiyan. Gohan was already on his case, however, and with his anger turning into power, he kicked the head of the enraged king, knocking him out of the attack.

At this point Goku turned and saw his own son being slugged in the stomach by one of Cold's attacks, sending the poor half Saiyan, dazed and shocked, towards the ground. Goku had none of this, lobbing a punch at Cold's head, throwing the king into a pile of rubble. He then flew towards the rocky ground at light speed and caught Gohan in mid air before he collided with the ground.

In Goku's arms, Gohan spat blood. Goku was worried and angered at the same time as Gohan lied there, heavily wounded, suffering great internal bleeding from Cold's attack.

"Goku!" Yelled Piccolo to the Super Saiyan, "Gohan has a senzu bean under his gi!" Goku took this information and reached under Gohan's belt to grab hold of the senzu bean. Using this, he fed it to Gohan as quickly as possible. Once Gohan had finished chewing the last senzu bean, he shot back up as quickly as possible. Goku set him on the ground, now more worried as ever for his son's safety.

Cold zipped out from the rubble and stood in front of Goku, veins pulsing and eyes bloodshot from his tense rage. Goku angrily turned to Gohan.

"GOHAN! GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!" Goku almost screamed at his son, "YOU TOO, PICCOLO!" Piccolo agreed almost without thinking and jumped towards Gohan. Before Gohan could utter a single word Piccolo had grabbed him by the back of his shirt and took off with him to hide in the mountains nearby.

"Do you think I won't kill them?!" Cold asked rhetorically. He then pointed a finger at the fleeing Namekian and half Saiyan, ready to kill them at a moment's notice. Goku jumped towards the king, headbutting him unexpectedly. This force launched Cold out of his attack stance and a large distance away.

" _I won't let him live this time… this one's for all the people of earth!_ " Goku thought to himself as he stanced in the position of a Kamehameha. Cold regained himself as he saw what Goku was doing. As Goku prepared for the Super Kamehameha, Cold prepared his own ki attack. He generated a pink sphere of energy in his palm. He then pulled back his arm behind his back as the sphere grew larger and larger.

"Ka...Me…" Goku began to charge up the sphere of energy. It was even larger than the previous Kamehameha wave he had thrown at Cold.

"Ha...Me…" The sphere of ki amounted to insane levels as he finished charging it. Cold was nearly ready to launch his own attack.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!" Goku lashed his arms forward as the massive Super Kamehameha shown throughout the universe. Cold had done the same, his insanely powerful blast now firing towards Goku's Kamehameha.

The two beams clashed as the planet itself shook. Miles away, Gohan and Piccolo were being blown away by the combined power of the two near gods. All the way back at Kame house, the energy was too much for Baba's small globular glass sphere to bear. Moments after the beams collided, the amount of ki being concentrated through the object was enough to shatter the globe entirely.

Goku's power erupted as he screamed, "THIS IS FOR PICCOLO AND GOHAN!" Suddenly, Goku's Kamehameha almost doubled in power as it effortlessly overtook Cold's blast. It was too much for the cosmic king, and Goku's Kamehameha swallowed him, almost as if a dragon had consumed Cold himself, and all that was left… was dust.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Proving Ground

From the sparked flame drove their race to the end. Their conflicts with the powerful Tuffle race were in the past. They were an advanced race, a warrior band, as they were always. But Freeza was scared. He pushed it away at all times, keeping it in the back of his mind, but he could not hold it. The legend of the Super Saiyan. From this led to planet Vegeta's destruction.

A warrior with a stone heart cracked under the pressure of a female Saiyan whom he called his wife feared their end. Thanks to the gift of the extinct Kanassans, he foresaw the end of the Saiyan race, and with it, his own son. Using this gift he said his final goodbyes to his youngest son before launching him off to a far off planet, for he knew that his son would be the one to avenge his race.

Although he accepted his defeat and utter end, he did not hesitate to try and postpone it. Telling his fellow Saiyans about the imminent destruction of their entire race, he tried to build up an army as to defeat the tyrant known as Freeza.

He was humiliated. His own friends. His entire race. They would not believe the truth, as they had always. As Bardock stumbled to the top of a Saiyan pod launching tower, he realized. As he envisioned his dearest son, he was told something that made him snap. That made him change.

"It's not too late, Father, to be different… than him…"

Bardock reached out to his son before snapping back into reality. With this, he realized… that he had to confront Freeza, even if it would mean his death. He had to save his race. He was a stone cold Saiyan, that was for sure. But even a Saiyan can change, as a heart of stone can crack away to reveal the loving, beating heart inside.

As he confronted Freeza, he taunted him to reveal himself. Once Freeza hovered out of his ship, Bardock managed to throw a Final Spirit Cannon at Freeza, hoping to end the tyrant's life.

Not even a minute later, his own life was ended, along with all of the Saiyans residing on planet Vegeta. Thus marked the near end of the Saiyan race.

He was a madman. Someone who you would not dare to even look at, as you would be in fear of if he would look back. It was almost like a signal would be sent the moment you would look at him, a signal of fear and worry. This man's name was Vegeta.

His strength was utterly unmatched by anyone ever known to the Saiyan race. He had become the pinnacle of power throughout the cosmos, rivalling none. But soon, Vegeta discovered, there was one. A power so large that, at will, it could destroy an entire star with no effort.

Of course, Vegeta could do that as well. Such power coming from a Saiyan like him would render his destructive capabilities unequalled. A madman was the right word. Until that day, when he discovered a power so completely massive. A drop of sweat rolled down his face as he basked in the unrivalled power of the being he was detecting. An ultimate energy, something that even Vegeta was scared of. That was what he felt.

Larger than his base power was just the beginning. Not only was it much for Vegeta to bear, it was also moving in his direction at an insane speed.

"Lord Cooler, we are almost at are destination," Sauza notified the sincere king, "Are you sure this is the Saiyan that killed Freeza?" Cooler took a moment to reply. Going through his head were many thoughts. Not only was he ashamed in his brother, but he wondered how he was felled to a mere Saiyan. Cooler knew that Freeza's power rivaled his own, although he always showed to be on top. The power that they detected from this Saiyan was too miniscule to even stand up to Freeza.

"It must be. The readings tell it is a Saiyan, and it is the strongest in range, almost a power level of one million," Cooler replied calmly, "The only other powerful Saiyan reading is on a planet at the other side of the galaxy. If this one bores me, then we head there." Standing stationary on the planet nearby, Vegeta watched carefully for the new threat in his wake.

In mere moments he spotted the massive ship upon the horizon. As it zoomed closer, Vegeta's eyebrows rotated even further downward. His stance had not changed since he had noticed the ultimate power in the distance. Dressed in fresh Saiyan Armor from an abandoned Freeza planet, he glared at the mysterious power far off.

Finally, the large ship entered the atmosphere, and as soon as it had entered it had landed on the rocky ground of the desolate planet. With this, Vegeta lowered his power level to something even the weak Guldo could rival. He merely stood and waited.

Sauza, Dore, and Naize stepped out of the ship to monitor the surroundings, something that the far range detectors set up on the ship could not do with ease. Sauza locked onto the Saiyan whom they had come here for. With a disappointed look etched into his face, he informed the others members of Cooler's Armored Squadron of the news.

"What's this? The Saiyan we detected earlier has dropped to 1,000," Sauza noted disappointingly in his heavy almost French accent he had inherited from his home planet, "It must have been a malfunction of our long range scouters. Those things have always been funky." Sauza turned to face Naize and Dore. He dropped his hand from the buttons on his scouter as he ordered Dore,

"Dore. Inform Lord Cooler that the Saiyan only has a power level of 1,000." Dore quickly carried out his leader's orders, informing one of Cooler's soldiers of the depressing news.

"You hear me? The Saiyan we detected is nothing but trash. A power level of 1,000," Dore informed the weak soldier, "Report it to Lord Cooler." The brute turned off his transmitter as he turned back to the weak power.

"Lord Cooler, Dore has informed me that the Saiyan only has a power level of one thousand," The Soldier notified to Cooler. Besides the fact that Cooler was hoping for a real fight, he kept himself as he replied to the soldier.

"Hmph. Tell them that they are free to kill the monkey," Cooler replied to the soldier. He reporting back to the three warriors waiting outside as they began readying themselves for flight. In short moments, they arrived at the scene of the small power. Stationing themselves about ten meters from each other in a horizontal line (A perfected stance as taught by Captain Ginyu far in the past), they stared down Vegeta. Although nervous, Vegeta kept his stance perfectly, slowly realizing the sheer weakness of their powers.

"So, monkey, looks like you're finished," Sauza refreshingly told the stationary Saiyan, "Naize, why don't you do the honors?" It was only seconds later that Naize brought his arm up and forward in preparation for a suppressed ki blast. In yet another second, the purple blast exited his extended arm and zoomed towards Vegeta. With a satisfying explosion followed by a boom, Naize and the others smiled and chuckled.

Little did the three know, Vegeta was standing at the peak of a small hill, fixed with no injuries whatsoever. He stared down the three fighters, trying to determine in which order to kill them and how to kill each. He was busy going through thoughts in his mind, searching through his many techniques, when Dore's scouter picked up an energy signal far behind him. His face turned on a surprised look as he checked his scouter once more, as to make sure that the reading was indeed correct.

"Hey… guys…," Dore successfully attempted to gain the attention of the two others standing to his side, "He's… not dead…" Sauza understood this first as he turned around, seeing the reading on his scouter. Next was Dore, and finally, Naize. The three stared in disbelief as they stared at the uninjured Vegeta. Quickly but not in a speed one could not detect, Sauza's face turned from surprised and nervous to angered and worried.

Launching at the Saiyan, Sauza meant to end him quickly, disabling both arms and finally finishing him with a quick breaking of the neck. Going in for a punch, Vegeta began powering up, still in a calm stance. Although suppressed, Vegeta managed to easily grab Sauza's fist as he came in for an attack. Relocating his hand to grasp Sauza's lower forearm, Vegeta inhaled a deep breath.

"W… what…," Sauza winced in pain as Vegeta gripped tighter to his arm, "But… your power level was only a thousand…" Vegeta only smiled and prepared to speak.

"Relying on those inferior scouters was your first mistake," Vegeta explained as he leaned in closer, "You see, I can suppress my power level to very low readings, and then, in the heat of battle, make myself skyrocket to full power and back, faster than any of those stupid scouters can detect." Sauza was now sweating heavily, still wincing as Vegeta gripped his forearm. He looked to his arm and back at Vegeta's face, still looking fearful as ever. Vegeta then let go of Sauza's arm, allowing the pain-ridden alien a chance to back up, which he took.

However, Vegeta would not give Sauza any time to recover. As quickly as he had let go, Vegeta dealt a kick to Sauza's left arm, breaking it upon impact. Yelling out in pain, Sauza tried to step back further. This seemed to be of to no avail, as in the next moment, Vegeta's right fist rocketed Sauza into a mountain. Sauza was left unconscious as of the multiple blows, bleeding and twitching, all the while buried under a mound of rocks.

Dore and Naize would have none of this. As soon as Sauza struck the hill, they launched at Vegeta, revealing their full power as fast as they could. As they neared in on Vegeta, they simultaneously launched a large multitude of punches and kicks at the Saiyan, the attacks passing the speed of light itself. Vegeta only smiled and chuckled at the sad excuse for attacks as he dodged each one effortlessly.

Quickly and without warning, Vegeta reached out with his arm and quickly swiped his extended fingers through the neck of Naize, killing him almost instantly. His head slid off of his neck, dropping to the ground with a thud, as his body followed. Dore was stunned. Staring at the body of Naize with an arm extended from a recent punch, he was left with his guard completely down.

Vegeta was quick with his attacks and his thinking. As fast as his right arm had tore through Naize's head, his left arm had entered the open and unguarded torso of Dore. Feeling the strong pain enter his body, all that Dore could manage to do in a way to show pain was to stare, open eyed, at Vegeta. Vegeta's grin had grown into a full on smile, feeling good in the heat of battle, something that he had not felt for an entire year. Dore let out grunts of pain as his arms collapsed to his side, followed by his upper body, toppling over onto Vegeta's extended arm.

Still alive, yet barely, Dore could manage no movements. Vegeta flicked his arm, still impaling Dore, to the left, managing the momentum to fling Dore off of his arm and into the ground a few meters away. As he allowed his victory to enter him along with his pride, he chuckled. However, nearby on Cooler's ship, Cooler had just been informed of the death of his three best soldiers.

Exiting the ship, Cooler meant to end the life of this Saiyan immediately. Zooming to the bloody battleground at top speed, he became even more angered at the Saiyan's ultimate power. As Vegeta pridefully strutted away from the battleground, Cooler, without warning, landed nearly twenty meters in front of Vegeta, startling the Saiyan. Stopping dead in his tracks, Vegeta took on a serious look once more.

"So I believe you were the power I was sensing before," Vegeta stated the obvious, although almost trying to impress the Frost Demon with his lack of fearfulness. Cooler merely shrugged it off, resisting the urge to retort. Simply stating what could be the obvious, Cooler replied to the Saiyan, changing the subject slightly.

"The only reason I have come here was to fight you," Cooler informed Vegeta reassuringly, "Now that I've seen that you can take out my best soldiers with ease, it seems as if you really could give me an entertaining fight. Besides, you did kill Freeza." Vegeta, just as Cooler had earlier done, shrugged this off as well, coming back with something that indeed surprised Cooler.

"Heh. Freeza is well under me now. I've become much stronger than him." Cooler took on a surprised expression for a moment before returning calmly to his normal stance. Grinning almost creepily, Cooler replied.

"Come on, you can't scare me with those nervous bluffs." Vegeta only undertook a smile as well, retorting with something that almost got to Cooler.

"I'm being serious," Vegeta stated with near perfect truth, "Freeza is fodder compared to what I am now." Cooler managed to maintain himself, packing his creeping fear into a corner of his brain.

"Let's be serious here," Cooler stated with a slight chuckle, "You don't even know what Freeza was capable of." Vegeta stood still for a few moments before changing stance into his fighting position. He was eager to see the power that Freeza's brother would display, but at the same time would not waste the effort of becoming a Super Saiyan unless the odds did not stack to his favor.

"Well then," Vegeta calmly stated, "I'd better not keep you waiting." Cooler's face turned serious as he undid his folded arms. They dropped down to his sides as Cooler's power slowly rose. Vegeta knew that he would have to go all out in this fight or it could mean his death. The power he detected from Cooler was massive, much more high than Freeza.

This would not be a sparring match, but a fight to the death.


	9. Chapter 9 - Prince of Saiyans

Vegeta stood a good distance from Cooler, debating his battle strategy. He would save his Super Saiyan form until later in the fight, so he had to not be careless while he was in his base form. Cooler would have no idea about his true power, so it would be relatively fine to keep suppressed.

Cooler stood comfortably, anticipating a rather easy match, although his soldiers were taken out effortlessly. Arms crossed, he had no idea what was about to hit him. Cooler suddenly realized, out of the blue, that this was no ordinary Saiyan. This was prince Vegeta, strongest among Saiyans, the one told to be the legendary Super Saiyan, one who had not been killed by Freeza during the end of the Saiyan race. As he stared, a drop of fear entered his supposedly fearless mind. A large roar interrupted him.

Vegeta yelled out as his ki was released in massive ways, going from zero to one-hundred in mere seconds. The shockwave of Vegeta's massive power up shook Cooler, making him drop his guard and allowing Vegeta to rush in and strike. Zooming at light speed, Vegeta let his fist sink into the underside of Cooler's chin, sending him upwards and backwards with unrelenting force.

Vegeta quickly flew himself upward to meet the stunned terror, and quickly kicked Cooler in his stomach, sending him down to the rocky ground below. Before Cooler could react, Vegeta raised his arms to throw a volley of ki missiles. One by one the attacks hit home, rendering any natural sounds inaudible. Light shone throughout the area, sending beams of pure energy into deep space. A catastrophe is one thing. This was entirely different. After a few seconds Vegeta halted, stopping his hands from moving as the dust kicked up from the fearsome attack faded away.

Although having survived the attack, Vegeta could not spot nor sense Cooler within the rubble. Thinking that he might have sneakily sprinted out of the volley, Vegeta darted his eyes around in all directions before Cooler rose out of the rocks and stones. Despite the many powerful strikes Vegeta had delivered to the alien, Cooler appeared to only be covered in a thin coat of brown dust. Ever so slightly surprised by this realization, Vegeta hovered down slowly onto the cracked and warped ground. His feet tapped onto the stones as Cooler stared him down, waiting until Vegeta had his senses together once more.

Vegeta was annoyed. A full power barrage in his base form had done nothing to stir Cooler. His face showed it all, a noticeable frown and greatly creased eyes.

"Heh… Prince Vegeta. That indeed was quite surprising," Cooler said, complimenting the Saiyan. Vegeta only stood quite still, black hair blowing in the strong wind that had been stirred due to his attack. He was pondering his chances. He had no clue what the real power of Cooler could be, and he did not know if even a Super Saiyan could dent this powerhouse.

Suddenly, in the middle of vegeta's pondering, Cooler zipped in front of his face unleashing a devastating punch to the Saiyan. Vegeta was catapulted backwards and collided with the ground hard, cracking the back of his Saiyan armor and covering him with scrapes, bruises, and dust. Coughing slightly, Vegeta stood himself up, watching as Cooler slowly waltzed towards him.

"It was fun while it lasted, Vegeta, but now I'll strike you down where you stand," Cooler uttered to the possibly beaten Vegeta. Vegeta believed he could last longer in base form against this monster, but it appeared he did not know the full power of the brothers. Had he seen Freeza's full power, this could have been a preventable tragedy. Vegeta weighed his options. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Slow at first, then it began to pick up into what seemed to be a large earthquake. Cooler noticed this, and spotted at the ground around him before catching the Saiyan in his gaze.

Vegeta's hair began to glow yellow as a golden aura surrounded him. He was standing in a powering-up stance, pupils gone from his eyes and veins pulsing in his head and arms. With a quick snap, the shaking of the planet ceased. Cooler stared at the spectacle. Vegeta stood proudly on cracked ground, sporting golden hair… and a golden aura. Vegeta was a Super Saiyan. Cooler took on a shocked look, now realizing there was truth to the legend.

"I did not expect to be pushed this far by a delicate emperor like you," Vegeta said in a cocky voice. His power was raging, sending powerful winds gusting across the entire desolate planet.

"Shall we get going, eh, Cooler?" Vegeta asked the emperor with a smirk growing across his face. Cooler merely put on the most serious face he could muster.

"I'll take that as a yes…" Vegeta muttered. He then twisted himself into a launching position facing the tyrant. In seconds, he kicked off of the ground at the speed of light, zooming towards Cooler. Before Cooler could react, a foot met his head, launching him hundreds of meters back. Vegeta regained his balance on the ground where Cooler was standing.

Dust filled the air at the impact site. A stunned Cooler rose from the rubble, stumbling onto his feet. His face was bleeding and a bright red spot began to swell at the area of the kick.

"What… is this…?" Cooler mumbled to himself, gripping his head as the throbbing pain caused him to wince. Vegeta's ferociousness and cockyness caused him to take on a toothy smile as he stared at Cooler.

"You damned filthy ape… What did you do?!" Cooler screamed towards Vegeta. Vegeta pointed towards the emperor before saying, with a smile,

"Can't you see, bastard? I've won. It's quite funny your defeat has come from the hands of a Saiyan… Ironic, isn't it?" Cooler was absolutely livid. He slowly stood up from the rubble and stared at the golden Super Saiyan in front of him. Clenching his fists, Cooler, now at his full power, launched himself at the Super Saiyan. Vegeta maintained his smile. With his incredible power, he saw every move the tyrant pulled, but stood to let Cooler attack him.

With a force that would've atomized base Vegeta, Cooler threw a punch at the chest of the Super Saiyan. A loud booming sound could be heard as dust rocketed into the sky above them. Vegeta was still standing. Cooler's incredible punch did absolutely no damage to Vegeta, it didn't even budge him. Instead of pain being dealt to the Super Saiyan, it seemed to be dealt to Cooler as he fell to his knees in agony. His hands were in intense pain.

Vegeta looked at the fallen Cooler with an angry face.

"I expected more from the so called 'Emperor of the Universe'. You are disappointing." Vegeta put his hands to his side as he lifted up Cooler's head with his foot. Cooler's eyes opened and looked at the blue clad fighter. Vegeta put on a quick smile as he tilted his head. Moments later, Vegeta forced his leg upwards, sending Cooler flying into broken rocks and rubble a ways away.

Cooler lied on his back, eyes open, dust and wounds covering him. He was completely startled. He has not predicted anything like this. The fact that a low Saiyan had beaten him into the ground was impossible for him to take. Around twenty meters away, Vegeta pointed his arm towards the fallen Cooler before spreading his fingers as if he was going to fire a ki blast. This, however, was different. His thumb was tucked in and his fingers were together apart from being spread out. Suddenly, Vegeta yelled.

"Big Bang Attack!"

A bright yellow light shone from Vegeta's palm as a massive blast of ki erupted at the speed of light itself. Rocks and dirt were shoved aside in place of the influx of power now speeding towards Cooler. In moments, the blast hit home, sending an explosion of sound and light around the planet. The dust would not clear for many minutes after the attack. Vegeta waited with the utmost patience, knowing that Cooler was alive in there. He was simply too durable to be felled by one attack like that. After many moments of time, the dust faded.

Cooler appeared, standing upright, staring down the Saiyan. However, he looked quite different than before. His frame had grown massively, and his muscled had swelled. Aside from this, his color pattern had taken on only white and purple. The most notable physical trait of them all, however, was that Cooler now wore a mask surrounding his face. He had shown his true final form.

On the inside, Vegeta was stoked. He was thrilled to test his powers on a worthy opponent. At first, he thought Cooler not to be this opponent, hoping to finish him off quickly to fight Kakarrot. Now, however, Cooler now seems to be worthy of seeing Vegeta's full power.

"Is this everything you have, finally?" Vegeta asked Cooler with a smile.

"Hah… You'll have to see…" Cooler replied nonchalantly.

"Is that so?" Vegeta, somewhere inside, was scared. Despite his confident stature, a small part of him warned him that this power was intense, much more intense than he could sense on the outside. He somewhat believed his Super Saiyan power wouldn't be enough to rid of this tyrant. However, Vegeta being himself, pushed that side into the darkness of his mind. He only let show the brave warrior he truly is.

Vegeta slipped into a fighting stance, awaiting the upcoming attacks from his opponent. A single sweat drop would run down his forehead as he waited. Suddenly, the ground beneath Cooler exploded as the alien zoomed towards Vegeta. Sensing an upcoming right punch, Vegeta swiftly and intelligently dodged. His senses did not fail him, as the attack he believed to happen did, in fact, take place.

Vegeta quickly used his right arm to elbow Cooler's head. The attack struck the emperor with force equivalent to the massive ki attack earlier, and sent him flying into the ground. Catching himself mid fall, Cooler zipped behind Vegeta, sending a right kick flying into the Saiyan's head. Vegeta was launched, spinning, towards a cliff face hundreds of meters away. Having plenty of time to regroup himself, Vegeta landed delicately on the side of the mountain before jetting off again towards Cooler.

A meteoric kick struck Cooler's head at many times the speed of light, sending him flying across the air. Vegeta flew past the stunned tyrant before striking him again with both of his hands, sending Cooler now into the ground. Cooler landed on all fours before launching back off of the ground and locking himself into a share of blows from himself and Vegeta.

Although, from the naked eye, the fight might seem somewhat even, Vegeta did have the obvious advantage. In their fast and intense hand to hand combat, Vegeta seemed to be wearing out. He had not been in such a fight before as a Super Saiyan. His stamina began to slowly run dry as the barrage of attacks between the two continued. In Vegeta's mind, solution upon solutions were being subconsciously created in effort that he win the fight quickly.

He was winning, he knew this. He also knew he was matching his power to Cooler's as to not end the fight at that given moment. But what he did not know was the extent of his own stamina. The Super Saiyan transformation had his limits, and he was slowly finding out as the fight drew on.

Drawing out all of his power into one blow, Vegeta punched Cooler in the stomach with the force of two planets colliding. This blow caused Cooler's mask to break, sending shards of hard tissue into Vegeta's face. Vegeta ignored this handicap and spun to kick Cooler in the head using his momentum as the force behind the impact. As the attack struck the emperor, Vegeta felt a small amount of pain. His body was being stressed by his Super Saiyan form. Vegeta had simply not had the required amount of experience in the state to be completely painless.

Cooler's body collided with the ground painfully. Rocks and dust rocketed into the air, before landing back into the planet with loud booms. Vegeta was in pain. Not only from the attacks he had sustained from Cooler, but from his own stamina loss. He was breathing heavily thanks to his overuse of his transformation at that moment. Glossing over possible solutions in his mind, Vegeta decided to end the fight at that moment.

Knowing Cooler's damages, he came to the conclusion that it would take a few seconds for Cooler to rise back up again. He would take those few seconds to charge a full powered Galick Gun, certainly strong enough to obliterate Cooler utterly. Releasing all of his ki with a powerful gust, Vegeta began to charge the most powerful Galick Gun ever fired. If he was to miss, Cooler, him, and the entire planet would be gone.

He performed the Galick Gun stance as the ki around his hands began to glow a dark purple. His energy had amassed a stormcloud, now feeding off of Vegeta's excess ki to create massive bolts of lightning, shredding through the sky. Vegeta was done charging. Cooler's end was now signed in fate. All it took was one action and two words.

"Galick Gun…" Vegeta uttered as he thrusted his hands forward. A beam of bright purple light erupted from his hands and shone down towards Cooler, who was now struggling to stand. Cooler, noticing the bright purple light behind him, turned slowly to see Vegeta encompassed by the great aura of the Galick Gun. This would be the last thing Cooler would ever see. With a blinding flash and an enormous explosion, Cooler was killed.


	10. Chapter 10 - Like Father, Like Son

**This is a special chapter, to celebrate my return to writing this, I guess. That means it's gonna be super long and pretty damn cool.**

Six months had passed since the defeat of King Cold and Goku's incredible Super Saiyan transformation. This peace was welcomed by everyone, and the fighting life had been somewhat stripped aside for the protectors of the earth. Gohan was beginning to transition back into a normal life, and Goku was doing what he could to support his family.

Piccolo had now taken the responsibilities as the new god of the earth, although he'd be without Dende, who had decided to live his life back on Namek. Tien and Chaozu lived in the tranquil swaths of the world where no human dared to venture, training and slowly becoming stronger.

For everyone, life was normal. Life was like it was before the Saiyans, and before Freeza and others. Although, things would quickly fade into darkness. As we all well know, the coming of the androids would happen at this time, although, androids 19 and 20 would never exist, as Gero would have sufficient knowledge from Goku's fight with King Cold.

A few months before 17 and 18 began terrorizing the world, Goku fell victim to the heart virus, devastating his family and friends. This would urge Gohan to begin training once more, as he thought he needed to honor his father's legacy in some way. The mourning would not last long, as two months later, cities around the world began being obliterated by two unknown mechanical beasts. It wouldn't take much time for our heroes to catch on to the destruction, and attempt to track down and attempt to destroy the androids.

At the top of the world, Piccolo sat, pondering this global crisis. They didn't know what these beings were, and no one could sense their energy. For now, they could only speculate and attempt to track them down as they moved from town to town, city to city. By the time the news report aired, the cyborgs would already be on their way to another populace. This posed a vital problem to the Z fighters.

"Dammit, these two are impossible to find…" Piccolo would mumble as his desperate attempts to locate the two beasts utterly failed. These androids still seek to kill Goku, although they wouldn't know yet that the job had been completed a few months earlier. They'd move from place to place, trying to find information on his location, but mostly having fun killing and destroying.

After a week of mindless destruction, a news report aired stating that the two beasts had begun to attack West City, a stroke of luck to the heroes. This is the biggest metropolis the duo had targeted, which left enough time for Piccolo to relocate there.

Immediately, Piccolo was flying towards the city. Completely oblivious to this, the duo continued their terrorization of the city, ripping buildings apart and tearing apart the ground. It would be a number of minutes, but eventually, out from the distance, Piccolo would charge in and deliver a massive kick to Android 17's face. Having had their backs facing each other, Android 18 wouldn't notice the hit until the sound of a massive explosion and falling debris struck the area. 17 was now buried in mounds of concrete rubble as Piccolo settled atop another smaller pile of broken concrete.

18 turned and stared, puzzled by the events that just took place. Piccolo glanced over and figured that she was the other one destroying the cities.

"You two are the androids?" He questioned 18. She paused for a moment, putting on a blank face.

"Yeah, we are," She spoke after a few moments of silence. As she said this, she began to stand up and face Piccolo. Piccolo looked down from his hill of concrete at the android and stirred up a few questions in his mind. He was puzzled; the androids looked very young, almost like teenagers. Android 18, in particular, was dressed rather oddly. With a blue denim vest and skirt covering a black shirt and black pants, completed with striped white and black sleeves.

Rubble in the distanced shone with a bright yellow glow, and an explosion sent rocks and debris flying high into the air. Bits crashed down with monolithic thuds and other varied sounds. The ground shook as a dishevelled teenager jumped his way out of the cleared rubble. Piccolo recognized him as the one he kicked, Android 17. This one looked different, he donned a black short-sleeved shirt tucked under a belt holding baggy denim jeans on. On his neck he wore an orange scarf, now somewhat torn and raging in the newly created wind. On his ankles he wore some sort of green sweatband, or socks, it couldn't be decided. He wore a white shirt under his black one, this shirt having longer sleeves.

Piccolo didn't expect these two to be the androids. The only appearances of them on film were from a far distance or corrupted camera footage, as in their spree of destruction, they would unknowingly vaporize anything that caught images. As he studied their physiques, Android 17 stepped up and stood aside 18. He looked quite ill mannered in his current state, understandably because he had been kicked moments earlier.

"18, will you let me kill this one?" 17 asked, or mumbled, angrily, to Android 18. She looked towards 17, as she had been looking at the explosion site for the past few moments. Her face became still and lifeless looking again.

"Don't take too long," She replied nonchalantly, and somewhat boredly.

"Okay."

18 folded her arms with irritance and walked to the remains of a shattered building. She seated herself on an exposed I-beam. It slightly shifted under her weight, and scattered dust clouds escaped from within the crushed concrete. A few feet away, 17 stood with his arms limp at his side, stiltedly standing on the rough ground as if to prevent himself from falling.

"And who are you?" He questioned towards Piccolo. Atop the rocks and rubble he still pondered what he had been pondering moments previous. 17's voice and sudden question snapped him back into reality. He prepared to speak.

"I am the god of this world," Piccolo answered. Surprised, 17 became suddenly confused.

"The go- What now? Did the explosions rattle your brain or something? Because you don't look like any god to me," Piccolo stood still as a statue. "Or… You think you're something because you managed to kick me and tear up my clothes? That's hilarious… That, or pathetic. Either one."

17 shut his mouth, and there was silence. Piccolo carefully lifted the white turban off of his head and dropped it into the rubble. A loud booming sound accompanied the incredibly heavy piece of headwear as it collided with the dirtied ground. Next, he hoisted his robe-like shoulder wear up and over his head, letting it drop into a heap on the ground next to the turban. There was another loud booming sound, signifying that this piece was weighted as well. Android 17 was growing steadily impatient at the sight.

"Well, say something. Or are you ignoring me?" Piccolo clenched his fists tightly as veins began to protrude out from them.

"Because, I'll tell you… And I'll only say it once, I'm going to… to kill…" He stuttered as the ground underneath his feet began to shake. His stilted stance became more awkward as he studied the ground, trying and failing to figure out why it began to shake. He looked at 18 for any sort of answer, as as soon as he looked, she pointed up towards the Namekian. He was glowing, a deep blue color surrounding him as his stance widened. 17 then realized the source of the shaking- it was Piccolo. His raw power began to shake the land as he rose his ki.

"Eh-" It was all the android could mutter before his words were interrupted by a fist colliding with his nose. 17 was forcefully thrown into a heap of rubble behind him, as Piccolo, arm outstretched, watched. 18 took her head off her hands and looked towards the explosion of dust with a shocked look on her face. The shaken android in the now crushed concrete stood up quickly, and as fast as he stood lunged at the still Namekian, delivering a hard blow to his neck with his elbow.

It was Gohan who first felt the power, as he was reading in his cozy room. He was still very shaken over his father's death, and had become a recluse for the past few months, soddened throughout with grief and depression he did not understand. He felt the power when he had least expected it, and dropped the book in surprise. It clattered on the floor, one corner and a select few pages now bent. His mouth was slightly agape in reaction, as were his eyes. After a few moments of stillness, he turned to his left towards his door. A nervous feeling befell him as he went somewhat pale.

It was Piccolo, the power was Piccolo. He did not know exactly why, but he worried. It had been long since Gohan felt something like this, and he certainly did not expect Piccolo to be the one to show such power without any warning. He picked up the book slowly and settled it into its bookshelf. His mother was not home at the time, therefore he was free to exit the house and move towards the power. He felt hot, though not from the outside temperature. It was from his fear. Piccolo was at his maximum power, though there wasn't another power accompanying it, no enemy nor anything. It was all alone. In a matter this soothed Gohan, for he did not have to worry about Piccolo being harmed. However, there was a feeling he couldn't shake. A feeling that something was awry. He would have plenty of time to think it through as he flew to the site of the new battlefield.

In the dark and foreboding expanse of space, a single speck came hurtling through its bleakness. Something of a metallic shape, spherical and exact. It was adorned with windows and signed atop with its name, though that is of no importance. It is of no importance despite the fact that this object is Vegeta's intergalactic ship, and it has been his only true possession over the past three years of being completely alone in the cosmos. After his bout with Cooler, he decided to remain silent. He stopped attacking planets, stopped making himself known. When he bought his necessities at various stops around the galaxies, he would be discreet.

Months earlier he found a small fortune of a universal currency while scouring a dead planet. It looked as if it was wiped off the map swiftly, and the spoils were left behind. Since then, Vegeta has been siphoning off of his monopoly instead of stealing more from others. Being a nomad, he has no way to make money besides taking it from others. This has given him a few run ins with the law, but being a Saiyan and one as strong as he is, it is always no issue.

He had an abundance of free time, and used it only to get stronger. He spent day and night pushing his body to its absolute limits, usually overexerting himself and even fainting on rare occasions, only to wake up hours later covered in newly formed scabs and with stiff and sore muscles. He had done this before, but after he became a Super Saiyan he was able to do it with much less difficulty. He'd throw his fists into the sky, send energy blasts of incredible proportions to rain down onto any planet he happened to be on. His physical damage came both from strain and from getting caught in his own attacks rather frequently. These injuries toned his physique and toughened his skin. Under his armor, he was draped in scars.

Besides this, he had an incredible drive. Impressive even for a Saiyan. He'd work himself to near death over and over again, push himself to horrible injury, just to be stronger. Since his battle with Kakarrot on Earth, his one and only goal is to become stronger than him. He had gotten hints of Goku's true power on and off over the years, most notably during his strenuous time fighting Cold. There, he had felt Goku finally become a Super Saiyan, and knew that his training was far from over.

Now he himself was a Super Saiyan. He was the universe's strongest. And he would only be disappointed to figure out that his greatest rival's life had been taken by a mere heart disease. The thing is, Vegeta has set course for Earth, and is heading towards the planet at insurmountable speed in his ship. He felt excited, but would soon only find anger. Vegeta's anger is fickle and unpredictable, and his strength and arrival might be a larger issue than the androids.

Piccolo staged his next attack. He cursed himself for not continuing his attack the first time, and now that 17 was fired up, he would have to make intelligent moves to take down this beast. He didn't know their true power. In fact, rushing in as quickly and as abruptly as this to fight an unknown threat is something that could be considered out of character to the Namekian. As he decided his battle strategy, 17 had already started moving.

Lunging forwards, he kicked off the ground with rugged delicacy straight at Piccolo. Piccolo's mind flashed with counter opportunities, and he adjusted himself to face the new flurry from the android. Before making contact, 17 jumped to the right, appearing behind Piccolo. Surprised but steady, Piccolo leapt forward swiftly in the attempt to avoid any attack from behind. This proved to be a poor decision, as Piccolo discovered. 17 had hid a ki attack under the pile of rubble, and just as Piccolo flew over it, it made an immediate jump up and made contact with the unguarded hero.

A quick explosion followed by a small plume of smoke was interrupted by a quick move from Piccolo. He managed to absorb the brunt of the attack with another ki blast, and landed on the side of a fallen building a distance away. 17 began to sprint towards Piccolo, but Piccolo also had a plan.

He used an ability of his not witnessed by Doctor Gero, and by design, the Androids. Piccolo's arm stretched towards 17, becoming incredibly elongated and malformed. Catching the android off guard, he used the opportunity to latch on to its torso and use it as leverage to fling himself towards 17. As his grappling arm receded back into its normal position, Piccolo was launched back at 17 and collided with a satisfying headbutt. 17 was bounced backwards as Piccolo let go of his arm, but managed to regain balance and quickly zoom back towards Piccolo. Piccolo was surprised by this being's speed as 17 reeled back for a fast punch. It collided, and threw Piccolo a far distance away.

18 only stood in silence. This was unprecedented. She could feel that 17 was using most of his strength, yet he was on equal turf with a natural lifeform. It seemed stupendous in theory, as these androids were the ultimate culmination of science and biology. Piccolo missed the city entirely and landed on his back with a sharp thud on the countryside. This was a place the androids had not laid waste to. A beautiful naturescape, filled with colorful farms and treelines off in the distance. Just a few hundred meters away was the ruins of the greatest metropolis on the continent. A sudden contrast.

"I'll say it, green man, you are the biggest challenge I've gotten since I was released," 17 managed to catch a moment of silence to fit in some words, "But, alas, you are just a challenge. I'll stomp you into the ground soon enough and bury you under West City." Piccolo had been itching to ask some questions for a while, and now that they were in the heat of battle, he felt like it was the right time.

"So… what are you?" He asked with a tinge of curiosity in his voice. 17 looked surprised. Piccolo waited silently.

"Come on, answer me."

"Sorry, it's just that… no one has asked that before. They usually just ask…" Piccolo waited a few seconds more, "They usually just ask why."

"Why… what?" The Namekian pondered. 17 saw this question coming.

"Why we're doing this. Why we're killing people," He thought for a moment, "Shouldn't you know that already? I thought you said something about you being the god…"

"Don't steer the subject the wrong way. I asked what are you," Piccolo was getting slowly more and more annoyed. 17's off subject comments were an irritant to him.

"We're androids, big guy. Well, sorta," 17 answered finally, expecting another question. A few seconds passed, and Piccolo looked as if he was simply waiting for the android to continue,

"We used to be humans, apparently. A couple of teenagers. Gero took us in and turned us into killing machines," Piccolo was shocked by this. He imagined that they were just a couple of incredibly strong hooligans, but that was not the case. He came to the realization that this is why their locations were impossible to find, they only had artificial ki.

"You'd think we'd be pissed that he forcefully turned us into these, but it's actually kinda fun, you know? I can do whatever I want whenever I want. No one can get in my way," Piccolo's face became serious once more, "Not even you."

Out of nowhere, the android kicked off of the ground and was moving directly at Piccolo. 17 dove down and was able to kick Piccolo's feet out from under him, causing his balance to fail. Piccolo began falling to his left as the android sturdied himself on the ground and prepared for his next attack. He kicked the side of Piccolo's head as he was falling, causing him to fly up into the air from the attack's force. The android jumped upwards to follow up, but Piccolo had already come up with a counter. Using a ki blast as a thruster, he boosted himself a few feet to the left. 17 wouldn't be able to correct his trajectory in time, and he zoomed right past the Namekian. Piccolo grabbed 17's feet and flung him back into the ground. A deep boom echoed throughout the rolling hills and a massive cloud of dust filled the area.

18 had caught up with the battle after losing the two for some time, and arrived to see the entire area blanketed in floating bits of dust. Piccolo waited for nothing, and immediately bolted to the location of 17's impact. However, the android had already hid himself in the kicked up dust, taking advantage of his undetectable power level. In the cover of smoke, he landed many an attack on the unknowing Piccolo. Piccolo's plan for an advantage had actually proved fatal.

However, he wasn't out of options. Centering his energy entirely in his body, he was able to let out an incredible wave of power. In less than a second, all of the dust was pushed into the distance as the area lit up with bright flames. 17 was forced back by the sheer weight of the power being expelled, and was buried under a mound of dirt, injured and somewhat weakened.

However, Piccolo had taken an even greater toll, having spent this large amount of energy on trying to damage the android and make it visible again. He stood in the middle of a deep crater, hunched over, arms at his sides. His stamina was drained as he breathed fastly. After regaining himself, he flew upwards to survey the area. He saw the damage he had done, having completely ripped apart the land in a mile radius. He saw Android 18 from afar, but no 17. He looked for at least half a minute, but there was no teenage robot in sight.

Then, he heard something. A barely audible noise below him. Looking down, he first saw 17 rushing at him, and second, a small hole in the center of the crater. Quickly, he realized. 17 had remained under the dirt, and spent some time silently digging a tunnel to the center of the crater. 17 was surprisingly crafty in this regard.

Before Piccolo could move, he was slugged in the stomach by the Android's fist. Out of his mouth came a massive volume of saliva, and he quickly lunged backwards to avoid another attack. 17 noticed his fatigue, and decided to speak up.

"Heh… Even if we have near equal strength, your stamina seems to be running dry. My engine is infinite," Piccolo slowly realized that his advantages were going down the drain. Even with the incredible power obtained from his fusion with Kami and his incredible training, he was losing against a cocky but smart brat.

"I don't care if you're this 'god' or not… Say, shouldn't a god be the strongest being on the planet?" 17 asked condescendingly. Piccolo sneered. He was only getting more and more irritated, and now his mind was racing for a way to win or at least a way to escape. Suddenly, he dropped back to the ground and began looking around.

"What are you doing?" 17 asked from above, "Trying to escape? You'll be happy to know I won't let you. No one gets away with what you did alive." However, Piccolo wasn't running away. He still had an ace up his sleeve, something he could use in the most dire situation. Piccolo had the Light Grenade. It was an all powerful attack he had been spending the last many months correcting to near perfection, he could now charge it and fire it in an instant. As 17 peered from above, waiting for a movement from the Namekian, Piccolo moved his hands together and immediately entered the most of his remaining energy into his hand. With this, he could kill Android 17, and run away in the fury of the attack to finish number 18 at a later date.

As fast as he had began, he fired the Light Grenade at the unsuspecting android. It collided with a crash, and an incredibly bright explosion followed. The booming sound filled the valley, and echoed across the mountains of the distance. A roar of smoke and dust was kicked up from the ground as trees and rocks heavier than cars were effortlessly lifted up and moved from their bed. As the attack raged, Piccolo began his move. He darted carefully across the newly formed crater, and peeked behind him to view the aftermath.

The android lived. Through the billowing smoke a silhouette emerged, and a ruffled android forced away the remaining dust and debris with his ki alone. Piccolo was taken aback. Not only had this beast survived his first explosion, but it had lived through with minor injuries his most powerful attack. At this point, Piccolo was completely gone. His power had waned to the point of no return, and his stamina was entirely dry. The android looked around, and in seconds, spotted the Namekian at the edge of the crater. Angered and hurt, he raised his voice.

"What… did you do? How did you hurt me this much?" Piccolo put on an exhausted smile.

"I thought you'd know… I'm the god of this world. I'm the strongest being," It was a brilliant bluff, but it was only a bluff. Piccolo could only withstand a couple more hits from the android before he wouldn't be able to even stand.

"Shut up about the god stuff… I don't wanna hear it anymore. I'm going to finally put an end to this stupid battle," 17 strained. Piccolo was now fearful. That emotion had just settled upon him; he realized that a way out of this battle was impossible. Like his stamina, he had just ran dry of courage. He backed away as 17 dropped onto his level, onto the side of the crater.

18 viewed the fight from a distance, assessing the two. Like Piccolo, she had already predicted the ultimate outcome of this fight. Piccolo would be killed, laid to rest on this scarred land. The god of the Earth no more. Losing the dragon balls would be only the beginning, the consequences of no god to keep order would be immense. Piccolo was thinking the same, regretting his decision to instantly jump into the fray thinking that he could suppress the threat.

There was something that interrupted his train of thought, and as he saw Android 17 a few inches in front of him, Piccolo could do nothing but stand and wait for the attack to land. A sharp right elbow jammed itself in his jaw, and lugged him into the dirt. Piccolo's mouth began to bleed profusely from several lost teeth, most of which he spat and coughed out along with a large amount of blood. 17 walked to the Namekian's side and raised his foot. With a sudden movement, the boot landed with a thud on Piccolo's chest. His breath stopped as he began to choke on blood and saliva. The ground was stained a deep purple.

From the distance, a scream echoed. The scream of a child. At the source of this scream was the enraged half-Saiyan, Son Gohan. At the speed of light, Android 17 was headbutted directly in the chest by this young powerhouse. His mouth was agape as saliva poured out of it. Like Piccolo, 17 crashed into the ground, kicking up bubbles of smoke and blades of grass. 17 lie on the ground for a moment, stunned. Piccolo, on the other hand, looked up in wonder at Gohan. His life had been saved by his past star pupil. He felt a touch of pride, though most of his thought was pure pain. Gohan's eyes were somewhat bloodshot, and his mouth bled from his teeth tearing into his gums. This wasn't the kind hearted and pure child everyone knew.

Gohan stood, and emanated a frightening ki. Piccolo hadn't felt anything like this from Gohan before. It was an energy full of malice, full of only anger. Although Gohan's enraged power was immense, Piccolo knew that, even in his weakened state, Android 17 was much stronger. Straining his muscles and his energy, he spoke softly to Gohan.

"Go… han… Pick me up and run, please…" Gohan took no notice. His eyes were fixed on the recovering android.

"You… gotta do it... " Realizing it was useless, Piccolo stopped talking and focused on staying conscious.

"Woah… who is this kid… and why is he so strong?" Android 17 asked breathlessly to no one in particular. Gohan remained silent for the next few seconds before beginning to yell at the top of his lungs. As he screamed, his power rose. 18 had finally caught on to the situation, and moved in closer, landing on the rim of the crater opposite to the three. She pondered if she should jump in and attack the kid, but decided to stay out of it for now. She simply stood like a statue with her arms folded. At the sight of the new battle, Gohan kicked off the dirt and flew swiftly towards Android 17. With a quick sidestep, he was able to dodge the enraged child. His extended hand dropped down onto Gohan's neck, and forced him into the dirt. The moment he made contact with the ground, Gohan bounced back up on all fours and zoomed into the air. He began to charge a volley of ki attacks, and lobbed them incredibly speedily towards the android. However, 17 effortlessly pinged every single attack into the distance. Lights and colors filled the sky as the volley exploded in the distance, and a cacophony of noise followed.

Gohan zoomed down directly towards 17 and reeled up for a punch. As he threw it, 17, at lightning speed, kicked the young child in his side, breaking three ribs and knocking him in the distance. Piccolo watched, panicking. He would now be killed along with Gohan, and there was nothing to be done. Nearly all of his muscles were torn, and his lungs were nearly crushed. Gohan struggled to get up, blood beginning to pour from his mouth, staining the foliage below with a dark red color. His rage began to fade as pain dug into his mind. Instead of killing the kid first, 17 decided to return to Piccolo.

He looked down over the dying Namekian, and snatched his neck. 17 slowly lifted the bloodied heap out of the dirt and held him up on his feet. Gohan suddenly noticed what was occurring, and stood shakily, holding his left side.

"Watch this, kid…" 17 muttered. Moments after this, Gohan saw the android's hand stab through Piccolo's chest. A purple coat of warm blood was plastered on 17's hand, and a stream of it dripped down his body in no time at all and began to form a puddle below the two. He dropped the nearly dead Namekian face down into the dirt. His hand was bloodied and dirty, and he smirked awfully. Gohan couldn't register what was happening, though it was more like he couldn't believe it. His eyes began to tear up and a scream from nowhere bellowed in his lungs. He hunched over and rubbed his face furiously with his bloodied hands.

"He's dead now. You'll be joining him soon." 17 shakily said to Gohan.

"He's not dead… He can't be dead…" Gohan was in pure disbelief. The Namekian had stopped moving. It could be easily assumed that there was no life left in him.

Suddenly, something snapped in the young kid. No one knew what it was, he didn't know what it was. Gohan underwent a flood of nearly every emotion all at once and time seemed to stop. His grief had gone over the edge. The death of Goku was the catalyst, and Piccolo was the spark.

Gohan screamed. His voice tore and cracked. The ground began to shake, and his power rose exponentially.

His hair became gold.

Now he was a Super Saiyan.


End file.
